Toward Optimal Financial Reward Allocation for Promoting Knowledge Sharing Activity in CoPs

The purpose of this study is to introduce CoP reward allocation (COREA) system that efficiently solves a mathematical optimization problem to optimally allocate limited financial reward and to promote knowledge sharing activities in CoPs. To test the validity and usefulness of COREA, we simulate three knowledge sharing climates in which the majority of CoPs performs below-, on-, or above-average. In addition, we also allow knowledge sharing activity of CoPs to improve or deteriorate over years in each climate. Our experimental results confirm that the proposed COREA system performs significantly better than the currently available reward system over various scenarios. In particular, the COREA system finds approximately optimal financial reward allocations for many cases in which the current reward system fails to find solutions that meet constraints

Managing the Iatrogenic Risks of Risk Management

Analogizing to concerns that led the practice of medicine to shift from a specialist to a team-based approach, Dr. Wiener suggests that public and environmental health objectives would be better served if, e.g., regulatory jurisdiction were less atomized

EVIDENCE INFORMED STRATEGY TO IMPROVE ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING ENGAGEMENT

The ability of an organization to effectively learn and apply knowledge not only equates with highly agile performance, it is increasingly important to surviving in a knowledge based economy. Organizational learning has been widely popularized in recent decades, however defining, coordinating, and maximizing this collective learning capability within organizations remains challenging. In part this difficulty may lie in conflicted views about the purposes of learning and who it benefits, varied ways in which learning or leading it can happen, and most importantly in employee’s different motivations to engage in learning at all. This plan examines organizational learning engagement and targets changes and a solution to necessarily improve this active, immersive participation in learning. Changes required within the organization being examined include a need to balance a performance goal and managerial control emphasis over OL with a more explorative, employee centric, collaborative, learning growth strategy. Using team and authentic leadership in concert with Kotter’s model and emergent change principles, this improvement plan forwards a community of practice engagement solution and means to implement, monitor and evaluate it. Informally led communities of practice embody engaged organizational learning, accomplished through socialized relational exchange, knowledge sharing, and the disseminated production-use of knowledge artifacts. This proposed solution aims to integrate into existing bureaucratic structure of the organization and provide synergistic benefit to managerial practices already supporting organizational learning. The community of practice solution is presented as a small increment change helping lay foundations for more ambitious visions of a strongly supported learning culture emphasizing high engagement at the organization

Sustainable energy innovation (SEI) within private finance initiative (PFI) projects

The purpose of this study is to examine the capacity of the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project delivery model to support the implementation of Sustainable Energy Innovation (SEI) within the context of the UK government’s Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The study attends to a significant gap in knowledge as there is a lack of conceptual and empirical work on managing innovative processes for sustainable energy in PFI projects. Adopting Complex Product Systems (CoPS) Innovation Management Theory, the BSF PFI project is conceptualised as a CoPS supply network where success in innovation largely depends on the interactive relationships among multiple project participants (Hobday, 1998, 2000; Hobday et al., 2000; Gann and Salter, 2000). A conceptual framework is developed based on three determinants of CoPS innovation, particularly: (1) clarity of the requirement, (2) communication and collaboration and (3) contractual incentives. Taking such a system‐oriented perspective is considered important for SEI due to the increasing levels of functional dependency and component complexity associated with environmental innovations. Thus, effective interaction among producers, clients and users is seen to be critical for their successful development (Rohracher, 2001; Intrachooto and Horayangkura, 2007). Following a four‐case qualitative research methodology, the empirical findings point to the significance of the three determinants of CoPS innovation in shaping the environment in which private sector producers operate and innovate in BSF PFI projects. However, while the qualitative nature of the chosen research methodology limits the ability to generalise, the case study findings provide empirical evidence to the limited capacity of the PFI delivery model to support SEI based on the key determinants postulated in CoPS Innovation Management Theory. The research establishes that the capacity of the BSF PFI project delivery model to support SEI is weakened by: the limited clarity of the sustainable energy requirement particularly in relation to its specificity and achievability; ineffective multidisciplinary communication and collaboration within the integrated ProjectCo due to restricting internal contractual relationships and the misalignment of Design‐ Construction‐Operation sustainability objectives; and ineffective Client/User‐Producer communication and collaboration brought in by the restricted nature of BSF engagement processes as well as the misalignment of Client/User‐Producer sustainability objectives. Contractual incentives were found to support SEI, albeit by fear of financial penalties through risk allocation, rather than pursuit of reward for innovation. The study concluded that the BSF PFI project delivery model, as a procurement policy, may not adequately appreciate the system dynamics needed for successful SEI. Indeed, the study underlined a number of problematic issues, or ‘hotspots’ (Hansen and Rush, 1998; Hobday and Rush, 1999), weakening the key determinants of CoPS innovation success in BSF PFI projects. Recommendations were developed to rectify the identified problematic issues. Future research directions were also suggested

Developing a framework to explain how organisational factors enable organisational communities of practice : three cases studies set in Saudi Arabia

The notion of Communities of Practice (CoPs) has flourished in recent years, encouraging organisations to create them intentionally, particularly as knowledge management initiatives. However, existing research details another type of CoPs, one combining components of both traditional CoPs (TCoPs) and formal structured groups (e.g. project teams); these are intentionally established CoPs, known as Organisational CoPs (OCoPs). OCoPs play a vital role within organisations by enhancing knowledge sharing interactions, furthering organisational innovation, and supporting problem-solving and performance. However, whether organisations should openly recognise OCoPs is a subject of debate, partly due to the limited empirical evidence explaining how organisational factors, such as top management, structure, culture, enable intra-organisational OCoPs. This research examines these three organisational factors (top management, structure, and culture) and their role in enabling OCoPs, as identified from three case studies situated in the context of Saudi Arabia. Each study includes the perspectives of managers, employees, KM leaders, OCoP leaders and members of OCoPs. The various views collated aim to provide a clearer understanding of the interconnected relationship between the three organisational factors, to explain how they enable OCoPs within organisations. Moreover, the study evaluates the opportunities and challenges encountered when establishing a new OCoP. A qualitative case study approach was adopted to explore stakeholders’ views about the status of how the three organisational factors enable OCoPs at the target companies. The researcher obtained data primarily from semi-structured interviews, but also utilised organisational documents and field notes. In total, 31 interviews were carried out at different sites belonging to the companies, with people holding diverse functional and hierarchical positions. The findings suggest that three main characteristics inform the three organisational factors’ ability to enable OCoPs activities within companies. Firstly, the middle management role in combination with top management plays a crucial part in enabling OCoPs activities within the organisation. Secondly, appreciation and recognition are seen as important forms of reward. Further, it was recognised as important to create a knowledge sharing culture as a habit at the organisational level to foster OCoPs’ activities. The findings of this research will benefit both academics and practitioners. First, it offers a theoretical framework that could assist organisations striving to establish OCoPs intentionally. Second, it assists future researchers by identifying the interconnected relationship between three key organisational factors that enable OCoPs’ activities within an organisation. Finally, it also provides insights to assist existing OCoPs to improve on current practices by developing appropriate and beneficial KM strategies

Knowledge Solutions: Tools, Methods, and Approaches to Drive Development Forward and Enhance Its Effects

[Excerpt] Today, sustainable competitive advantage derives from strenuous efforts to identify, cultivate, and exploit an organization’s core competencies. This calls for relentless design of strategic architecture, deployment of competence carriers, and commitment to collaborate across silos. Put simply, core competencies are the product of collective learning: their tangible fruits are composite packages of products and services that anticipate and meet demand. Knowledge is what you learn from experience before, during, and after the event. Since it is both a thing and a flow, the best way to manage knowledge is to cater at all times to the environment in which it can be identified, created, stored, shared, and used. Tools, methods, and approaches are needed to enable that. And so, to drive development forward and enhance its effects, the Asian Development Bank has, since 2008, published the Knowledge Solutions series, available at www.adb.org/knowledgesolutions. It aims to build competencies in the areas of strategy development, management techniques, collaboration mechanisms, knowledge sharing and learning, and knowledge capture and storage—all of which are essential to high-performance organizations

Managing for Development Results for Inclusive Development

Chapter 1 Implementing Managing for Development Results for Inclusive Development Chapter 2 Country-Level Case Studies in Africa Chapter 3 Country-Level Case Studies in Asia Chapter 4 Country-Level Case Studies in Latin America and the Caribbea