The effects of goal orientations on knowledge management system usage, knowledge sourcing and learning outcome

This research investigates individual differences in the context of knowledge management system (KMS) usage, knowledge sourcing and learning outcome. Individual differences are measured for mastery, performance and avoidance goal orientations. Individuals with high mastery goal orientations prefer to master and develop new skills and knowledge. Those with high performance goal orientations prefer to compare their performances with others. Lastly, those with high avoidance goal orientations prefer to avoid a new task if they feel incompetent. User posting and reading activities in a KMS are examined over a 3- month period. Consistent with goal orientation theory, the results show that mastery goal orientation has an effect on reading, knowledge sourcing and learning outcome. In contrast, performance goal orientation has an effect only on posting, but not on reading. To a lesser degree than mastery goal orientation, avoidance goal orientation has an effect on reading, but not posting. These findings have important implications for both knowledge management researchers and practitioners

Involving employees in six sigma

Six sigma is a quality improvement philosophy with systematic and formal approach. In order to successfully implement and utilize six sigma the basic disciplines of it should be adopted by the entire organization. Furthermore, employee involvement is crucial in six sigma implementation. This thesis addresses the challenges of long-lasting involvement in the case company. It focuses on gaps of involving six sigma trained employees, Black Belts. Theoretical framework of the thesis illustrates different factors influencing employee involvement. Influencing factors can be divided into ten categories: organizational culture, managerial commitment, leadership style, employee empowerment, employees’ perceptions, communication, training, goals, performance measurement and incentives. Factors and categories overlap and are related to each other. The framework provides holistic view of employee involvement in six sigma context but can be used also with other quality management philosophies. This thesis was conducted as a case study and written on an assignment to a power and automation technology company. Due to the nature of research problem, the data collection was conducted by interviewing case company personnel. In order to study involvement from employees’ point of view interview questions were designed to be open-ended and to allow the interviewees to tell freely about the phenomenon. This thesis provides empirical support on previous studies in organizational support, management commitment and employee empowerment. In addition, it indicates the importance of separate function for Black Belts in the organization. The gaps in Black Belt involvement can be categorized under two categories: Management driven gaps are related to management commitment, organizational structure and culture and information systems. Black Belt driven gaps are related to practice and effort of using six sigma. This thesis finds solutions for bridging these gaps in the case company by applying findings from literature research and suggestions given by the interviewees. For each gap, actions are suggested for bridging the discrepancy between current and desired situations. The thesis states that in order to embed six sigma in the organization the most crucial gaps, lack of management commitment, six sigma vision and possibilities to use six sigma, should be diminished.siirretty Doriast

Are Printed Documents Becoming Irrelevant? The Role of Perceived Usefulness of Knowledge Repositories in Selecting From Knowledge Sources

Knowledge sourcing through knowledge repositories, people, and documents in organizational settings are investigated in this paper. This competition among the knowledge sources is modeled via the perceived usefulness and ease of use of a Knowledge Management System (KMS) and extends the work of Gray and Durcikova (2005-2006) by adopting the concept of competition among knowledge sources suggested by Zimmer et al (2007-2008). Results suggest that when a KMS is perceived to be useful, users tend to reduce the usage of printed documents as a source of knowledge. However, when a KMS is perceived to be useful and easy to use, knowledge sourcing from other individuals is not influenced. This suggests that while good quality KMS may be slowly replacing printed documents, they complement sourcing knowledge from colleagues rather than reducing it. Implications for future research and practice are offered

Studi Iterasi Pembobotan Klaster Geografis pada Kasus Program Beras untuk Masyarakat Miskin

Dalam tulisan ini metode audit sosial (communal-consensus likert-type scale) dilakukan dalam sebuah iterasi terkait dengan pembobotan terhadap bias klaster geografis pada evaluasi program beras untuk masyarakat miskin. Pada setiap pemangku kepentingan di klaster geografis mempunyai identitas masing-masing termasuk asal usul suku. Identitas mempunyai kecenderungan untuk bersikap kukuh terhadap dirinya. Dalam sebuah forum yang mengandalkan kesamaan cara pandang masalah sebagai sebuah mekanisme yang dipandu fasilitator, semakin besar pengaruh identitas pada pemangku kepentingan, makin besar pula kemungkinan munculnya sejumlah diskonsensus, baik yang terang-terangan atau tersembunyi. Dalam studi beras untuk masyarakat miskin masalah ini dievaluasi dan dicari sebab-sebabnya. Lalu dicari nilai koreksi agar setiap pembobotan dalam audit sosial mendapat bobot yang akurat dan dicari sebabnya

Capability-actor-resource-service : a conceptual modelling approach for value-driven strategic sourcing

This PhD research addresses a problem within strategic sourcing, which is a critical area of strategic management that is centered on decision-making related to procurement. Strategic sourcing is related to two disciplines: (i) procurement and supply management and (ii) strategic management. Sourcing is the strategic part of procurement that refers to tasks like determining cost saving and value-driven opportunities, choosing the most appropriate go-to market strategies, and selecting and evaluating suppliers for building long-term and short-term contractual relationships. Many companies face challenges in obtaining the benefits associated with effective strategic sourcing. Although the concept of strategic sourcing is fairly well recognized, managers are still challenged by many barriers to its implementation. The main problem is the lack of practical instruments (i.e., tools and techniques) to implement the value-driven management approach to strategic sourcing, while at the same time preparing companies for fact-based decision-making by delivering data management and data analytics capabilities. This is the problem which is addressed with this PhD research. To address this problem, the research goal has been defined as “develop a modeling approach that enables companies 1) to drive fact-based decision-making with respect to procurement data management and procurement analytics”; and 2) to implement strategic sourcing toward achieving value-driven targets”. We apply conceptual modeling as our main solution approach to achieve the above research goal. We define three major areas where conceptual modeling can contribute to strategic sourcing decision-making: conceptualization, design and computer support. The proposed conceptual modeling approach is characterized by four different perspectives: (i) a way of thinking (i.e., a conceptual foundation), (ii) a way of modeling (i.e., a modeling language and method to use it), (iii) a way of working (i.e., a model-based analysis approach), and (iv) a way of supporting (i.e., a computer-aided design tool). The scope of PhD research is limited to the first three perspectives, while for the fourth perspective a solution architecture will be proposed as part of future research. This PhD dissertation is a paper-based dissertation consisting of six chapters. Three chapters (chapter 3, 4, 5) of this dissertation have been submitted to international peer-reviewed journals (chapter 4 is published and chapters 3 and 5 are accepted) and one chapter (chapter 2) has been published in the post-conference proceedings of an international workshop

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

International Vertical Alliances within the International Business Field : A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Impact of Individual Learning on Electronic Health Record Routinization: An Empirical Study

Since the passage of the HITECH Act, adoption of electronic health records (EHR) has increased significantly EHR refers to an electronic version of a patient’s medical history. The adoption of EHR has potential to reduce medical errors, duplication of testing, and delays in treatment. However, current literature indicates that implementation of EHR is not resulting in the automatic routinization of EHR. Routinization refers to the notion that truly successful technological innovations are no longer perceived as being new or out-of-the-ordinary. The complexity of EHRs allow individual users to use these systems at different levels of sophistication. Research shows that healthcare professionals are using non-standard ways to use or circumvent the EHR to complete their work and are limited in EHR systems use. Further, although workarounds may seem necessary to physicians and are not perceived to be problematic, they can pose a threat to patient safety and hinder the potential benefits. Hence, we argue the EHR implementations are limited in their potential due to the lack of routinization. Any new technological innovation requires the physician support and willingness to learn about the system to move to the routinization phase of implementation. Hence, we draw from the literature on organization learning, individual learning, and routines to understand factors that influence EHR routinization

The Impact of Individual Learning on Electronic Health Record Routinization: An Empirical Study

Since the passage of the HITECH Act, adoption of electronic health records (EHR) has increased significantly EHR refers to an electronic version of a patient’s medical history. The adoption of EHR has potential to reduce medical errors, duplication of testing, and delays in treatment. However, current literature indicates that implementation of EHR is not resulting in the automatic routinization of EHR. Routinization refers to the notion that truly successful technological innovations are no longer perceived as being new or out-of-the-ordinary. The complexity of EHRs allow individual users to use these systems at different levels of sophistication. Research shows that healthcare professionals are using non-standard ways to use or circumvent the EHR to complete their work and are limited in EHR systems use. Further, although workarounds may seem necessary to physicians and are not perceived to be problematic, they can pose a threat to patient safety and hinder the potential benefits. Hence, we argue the EHR implementations are limited in their potential due to the lack of routinization. Any new technological innovation requires the physician support and willingness to learn about the system to move to the routinization phase of implementation. Hence, we draw from the literature on organization learning, individual learning, and routines to understand factors that influence EHR routinization