381,140 research outputs found

    Strategic knowledge management system in public sector in Saudi Arabia : an adaptation of the Balanced Scorecard

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    Knowledge has increasingly been viewed as a source of competitive advantage. KM is the process of creating value from the intangible assets of an enterprise. It deals with how best to leverage knowledge internally in the enterprise (in its individual employees, and the knowledge that gets built into its structures and systems) and externally to the customer and stakeholders. This study aims to investigate how do Knowledge Management Strategies influence the development of an organisation‟s strategies, and Could BSC be used to develop Strategic Knowledge Management Balanced System (KMBS) for strategic management. Hence, this study is an exploratory investigation into the Strategic Knowledge Management (SKM) project based on an integrated approach. The thesis provides a theoretical theory through linking research and literature on Strategic Management (SM), Knowledge Management (KM), and Balance Scorecard (BSC). This is followed by an empirical investigation to understand how Strategic Knowledge Management system, processes and the critical factors identified are being addressed. To investigate this problem the research focuses on Strategic Management and Knowledge Management as practised in the Institute of Public Administration (IPA) in Saudi Arabia. The research design was largely derived from Yin (2003). Multiple-case design was employed, with quantitative and qualitative data collection methods. Questionnaires were distributed to 238 employees in all IPA organisations. In addition, semi-structures personal interviews were conducted with the IPA leaders and senior managers to perform strategic management and Knowledge Management initiatives. The resulting data is analysed at descriptive, exploratory and explanatory levels. The study focuses on factors that may critical and influence the development of a Strategic Knowledge Management in public sector in Saudi Arabia. The study identified 13 critical factors that must be carefully considered to ensure strategic KM success. The study divided these critical factors into four groups from different perspectives point views to Knowledge Management Strategies. These perspectives adequately capture focus of organisation‟s strategy and provide balance between external and internal knowledge, and explicit and tacit knowledge. On the basis of this research, the thesis concludes with a conceptual model of SKMBS designed to be valuable in providing a path for transferring to KM organisation if carefully applied. In addition, a road map which, once made, can offer a framework from for which a SKM could develop within IPA.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

    Transferring Collective Knowledge: Collective and Fragmented Teaching and Learning in the Chinese Auto Industry

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    Collective knowledge, consisting of tacit group-embedded knowledge, is a key element of organizational capabilities. This study undertakes a multiple-case study of the transfer of collective knowledge, guided by a set of tentative constructs and propositions derived from organizational learning theory. By focusing on the group-embeddedness dimension of collective knowledge, we direct our attention to the source and recipient communities. We identify two sets of strategic choices concerning the transfer of collective knowledge: collective vs. fragmented teaching, and collective vs. fragmented learning. The empirical context of this study is international R&D capability transfer in the Chinese auto industry. From the case evidence, we find the expected benefits of collective teaching and collective learning, and also discover additional benefits of these two strategies, including the creation of a bridge network communication infrastructure. The study disclosed other conditions underlying the choice of strategies of transferring collective knowledge, including transfer effort and the level of group-embeddedness of the knowledge to be taught or re-embedded. The paper provides a group-level perspective in understanding organizational capabilities, as well as a set of refined constructs and propositions concerning strategic choices of transferring collective knowledge. The study also provides a rich description of the best practices and lessons learned in transferring organizational capabilities.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39804/3/wp420.pd

    Qualitative Case Studies in Operations Management: Trends, Research Outcomes, And Future Research Implications

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    Our study examines the state of qualitative case studies in operations management. Five main operations management journals are included for their impact on the field. They are in alphabetical order: Decision Sciences, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Journal of Operations Management, Management Science, and Production and Operations Management. The qualitative case studies chosen were published between 1992 and 2007. With an increasing trend toward using more qualitative case studies, there have been meaningful and significant contributions to the field of operations management, especially in the area of theory building. However, in many of the qualitative case studies we reviewed, sufficient details in research design, data collection, and data analysis were missing. For instance, there are studies that do not offer sampling logic or a description of the analysis through which research out-comes are drawn. Further, research protocols for doing inductive case studies are much better developed compared to the research protocols for doing deductive case studies. Consequently, there is a lack of consistency in the way the case method has been applied. As qualitative researchers, we offer suggestions on how we can improve on what we have done and elevate the level of rigor and consistency

    Performance measurement : challenges for tomorrow

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    This paper demonstrates that the context within which performance measurement is used is changing. The key questions posed are: Is performance measurement ready for the emerging context? What are the gaps in our knowledge? and Which lines of enquiry do we need to pursue? A literature synthesis conducted by a team of multidisciplinary researchers charts the evolution of the performance-measurement literature and identifies that the literature largely follows the emerging business and global trends. The ensuing discussion introduces the currently emerging and predicted future trends and explores how current knowledge on performance measurement may deal with the emerging context. This results in identification of specific challenges for performance measurement within a holistic systems-based framework. The principle limitation of the paper is that it covers a broad literature base without in-depth analysis of a particular aspect of performance measurement. However, this weakness is also the strength of the paper. What is perhaps most significant is that there is a need for rethinking how we research the field of performance measurement by taking a holistic systems-based approach, recognizing the integrated and concurrent nature of challenges that the practitioners, and consequently the field, face

    A path model “why-what-how-when” to Implement an IC reporting

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    The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an empirical study and the critical success factors for implementing Intellectual Capital (IC) reporting. Selecting an IC model to be implemented in a specific context at a particular time depends on several contingent factors. In light of this, we propose the following “why-what-how-when” agenda, which will be applied in the case study: 1. Why implement IC reporting in a specific context? 2. What IC approach/tool is suitable to satisfy users’ informational needs? 3. How is the quality of information? 4. When is information available? The research is qualitative and focused on a case study in order to understand the dynamics of a given process. The company analyzed designs and develops Large Systems for Homeland Protection. The analyzed case study shows that there isn’t “one best way” to report on intangibles. Thus, the main critical factors of the process investigated are the following: accurate identification of actors involved in the decision-making process; quality and availability of information. The case study allows us to analyze how changes in decision maker(s), users’ informational needs and information quality can impact the selection of the framework and its relative artifact/tool to be used to report on intangibles

    Human Resources and the Resource Based View of the Firm

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    The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has influenced the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) in a number of ways. This paper explores the impact of the RBV on the theoretical and empirical development of SHRM. It explores how the fields of strategy and SHRM are beginning to converge around a number of issues, and proposes a number of implications of this convergence

    Collaborative design : managing task interdependencies and multiple perspectives

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    This paper focuses on two characteristics of collaborative design with respect to cooperative work: the importance of work interdependencies linked to the nature of design problems; and the fundamental function of design cooperative work arrangement which is the confrontation and combination of perspectives. These two intrinsic characteristics of the design work stress specific cooperative processes: coordination processes in order to manage task interdependencies, establishment of common ground and negotiation mechanisms in order to manage the integration of multiple perspectives in design

    Social research evolution in management accounting : reflection using Bunge’s theory.

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    Actually Management Accounting is considered for an important group of researchers as a social science. This is a consequence of an evolution from an economic view to social-oriented perspectives. Following Mario Bunge’s theory, we establish that break point in 1980s. Until 1980s, the accounting research was dominated by an economic analysis with both utilitarian and cognitive objectives. The scientific growth was in surface, without any relevant change in the foundations of Management Accounting. The development of new concerns regarding social implications promotes a growth in-depth in the 1980s. Socio-economic analysis, both in interpretative and critical research, is developed following utilitarian and cognitive objectives. We defend that Management Accounting, to consolidate its status as a social science, needs an evolutionary, reflexive and trans-disciplinary thinking, in both theoretical and empirical dimension. Utilitarian and cognitive approaches must be developed and in a coordinated way. Dialogue between different theoretical perspectives will support the utilitarian objective. Dialogue between different methods and findings, in particular case studies, will contribute to both utilitarian and cognitive dimensionsResearch evolution; Management accounting; Social science; Bunge’s theory; Utilitarian objective; Cognitive objective; Growth in-depth; Growth in surface; Case studies;

    Teaching and Learning in Interdisciplinary Higher Education: A Systematic Review

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    Interdisciplinary higher education aims to develop boundary-crossing skills, such as interdisciplinary thinking. In the present review study, interdisciplinary thinking was defined as the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means. It was considered as a complex cognitive skill that constituted of a number of subskills. The review was accomplished by means of a systematic search within four scientific literature databases followed by a critical analysis. The review showed that, to date, scientific research into teaching and learning in interdisciplinary higher education has remained limited and explorative. The research advanced the understanding of the necessary subskills of interdisciplinary thinking and typical conditions for enabling the development of interdisciplinary thinking. This understanding provides a platform from which the theory and practice of interdisciplinary higher education can move forwar
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