Information Technology and Organizational Learning Interplay: A Survey

The objective of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the evolutionary trends in the research domain of information technology and organizational learning. Having surveyed various journals and key conferences between 2000 and 2018 on the topic, we observe that information technology (IT) has expanded from its general form to various contemporary information systems, e.g. knowledge organization systems, communication and collaborative systems and decision support systems. However, organization learning (OL) now essentially occurs through knowledge management activities, e.g. knowledge acquisition, storing, sharing and application of knowledge. The survey reported here not only validates the interplay of IT and OL but also reveals some important intervening factors between IT and OL, e.g. absorptive capacity, organization culture, user trust, acceptance and satisfaction that work as deterministic elements in the reciprocal relationship of IT and OL. We propose future research to explore interaction between big data analytical systems and organizational learning

Information System Development Team Collaboration Antecedents

Despite information system development companies have invested substantial resources to support the success of information system development (ISD) projects, the failure rate is still high. Extant studies indicated that the constant changes from socio-technical environments are the main causes of the low success rate. This study argues that team collaboration is a key factor to effectively cope with unexpected disruptions that would have negative effect on overall software product success. This study proposes a research model exploring factors that influence the development of team collaboration. These factors include the team commitment, transactive memory systems (TMS), and collective mind. In addition, the study suggests that the collective mind has an intermediate effect on the team commitment, TMS, and team collaboration. This study takes the information development teams of various companies in Taiwan as its subjects

A Transactive Memory Systems Perspective on Virtual Team Creativity

Regulating the creativity of virtual teams (VTs) has turned up to be a major concern for many companies. Furthermore, organizations with geographically distributed teams, are struggling to keep up satisfactory VT relations to enhance creativity initiatives. This research analyses how firms can manage the relationship between transactive memory systems (TMS) components (specialization, coordination and credibility) with VT creativity. We examined the collected data from 231 professionals employing structural equation modeling to assess the model fit and partial least squares to evaluate the robustness of our results. Our investigations found different results. The first conclusion shows that TMS components have a positive impact on VT creativity. Second, our study gives a confirmation of the combined intra and inter-TMS components’ effect on VT creativity

A MULTILEVEL INVESTIGATION OF LEADER EMPOWERING BEHAVIORS: INTEGRATING THE JOB DEMANDS-CONTROL MODEL AND TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEM THEORY

Empowering leader behaviors have been generally suggested to motivate employees and facilitate their goal achievement, but they can also be challenging and demanding. Yet questions regarding why employees may feel challenged and even concerned when empowered and how leaders can reduce such unfavorable reactions have been largely ignored in the literature. To examine the multifaceted impacts of empowering leadership and, at the same time, consider how the empowerment climate created by the leader at the team level may help facilitate the individual-level leadership processes, this research integrates the job demands-control (JD-C) model and the transactive memory system (TMS) literature to advance and test a model of the impacts of leader empowering behaviors on individuals and teams, as well as interrelationships of the multilevel dynamics. Applying the JD-C model, I propose that empowering leadership can provide team members with learning opportunities but also generate perceptions of role overload, which then influence, in opposite directions, their engagement and performance. Further incorporating the TMS literature, I propose that by creating an empowerment climate, leaders can help foster the development of TMS within the team. TMS will, in turn, benefit team performance as well as produce a positive cross-level influence on individual team members. Using survey data from 74 research and development teams in 14 high-technology companies in China, hierarchical linear modeling and hierarchical regression analyses provided overall support for the model. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed in this dissertation

Crowdsourcing innovation: a proposal for a brokering architecture focused in the innovation needs of SMEs

Crowdsourcing is evolving into powerful outsourcing options for organizations by providing access to the intellectual capital within a vast knowledge community. Innovation brokering services have emerged to facilitate crowdsourcing projects by connecting up companies with potential solution providers within the wider ‘crowd’. Most existing innovation brokering services are primarily aimed at larger organizations, however, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) offer considerable potential for crowdsourcing activity since they are typically the innovation and employment engines in society; they are typically more nimble and responsive to the business environment than the larger companies. SMEs have very different challenges and needs to larger organizations since they have fewer resources, a more limited knowledge and skill base, and immature management practices. Consequently, innovation brokering for SMEs require considerably more support than for larger organizations. This paper identifies the crowdsourcing innovation brokerage facilities needed by SMEs, and presents an architecture that encourages knowledge sharing, development of community, support in mixing and matching capabilities, and management of stakeholders’ risks. Innovation brokering is emerging as a novel business model that is challenging concepts of the traditional value chain and organizational boundaries

Crowdsourcing innovation: uma proposta de arquitetura de serviços de mediação focado na inovação necessidades das PME

Crowdsourcing is evolving into powerful outsourcing options for organizations by providing access to the intellectual capital within a vast knowledge community. Innovation brokering services have emerged to facilitate crowdsourcing projects by connecting up companies with potential solution providers within the wider ‘crowd’. Most existing innovation brokering services are primarily aimed at larger organizations, however, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) offer considerable potential for crowdsourcing activity since they are typically the innovation and employment engines in society; they are typically more nimble and responsive to the business environment than the larger companies. SMEs have very different challenges and needs to larger organizations since they have fewer resources, a more limited knowledge and skill base, and immature management practices. Consequently, innovation brokering for SMEs require considerably more support than for larger organizations. This paper identifies the crowdsourcing innovation brokerage facilities needed by SMEs, and presents an architecture that encourages knowledge sharing, development of community, support in mixing and matching capabilities, and management of stakeholders’ risks. Innovation brokering is emerging as a novel business model that is challenging concepts of the traditional value chain and organizational boundaries.O crowdsourcing está a evoluir para opções poderosas de outsourcing para as organizações, fornecendo acesso ao capital intelectual dentro de uma comunidade de vasto conhecimento. Serviços de mediação de inovação surgiram para facilitar projetos de crowdsourcing, ligando-se empresas com fornecedores de soluções potenciais na maior ‘multidão’. Os serviços de mediação de inovação existentes destinam-se principalmente em organizações maiores, no entanto, Pequenas e Médias Empresas (PME) oferecem um potencial considerável para a atividade de crowdsourcing, uma vez que são normalmente os motores de inovação e de emprego na sociedade, eles são tipicamente mais rápidos e ágeis para o ambiente de negócios do que as grandes empresas. As PME têm desafios e necessidades muito diferentes das organizações maiores, uma vez que têm menos recursos, um conhecimento mais limitado e base de habilidades e práticas de gestão imaturas. Consequentemente, a intermediação da inovação para as PME necessitam de apoio consideravelmente maior do que para grandes organizações. Este documento identifica as adaptações de serviços de mediação de inovação necessárias por parte das PME, e apresenta uma arquitetura que estimula o compartilhamento do conhecimento, o desenvolvimento da comunidade, combinando recursos e gestão de riscos das partes interessadas. Intermediação de Inovação está a emergir como um modelo de negócio inovador que está desafiando os conceitos da cadeia de valor tradicional e fronteiras organizacionais

Putting the team into Team Formulation in adult mental health and learning disability services: Conceptual foundations.

Team formulation is considered central to care delivery by mental health and learning disability multi-disciplinary teams. A systematic review completed as part of the thesis indicated team formulation research is scarce, of variable quality, and mainly explores practice acceptability. Team formulation lacks distinct definition and is based on psychological case formulation theory, a central tenet of one-to-one psychological therapy which does not include team theory. While there is emerging research on the impact of team formulation on the team, the systematic review found no reports of the impact of the team on the formulation. The development of a definition and model of team formulation, based on both team and case formulation theories was central to this thesis. The model proposed the role of team factors as critical to team formulation. The model guided the choice of two empirical studies, examining team factors and their relationship with the knowledge sharing required for team formulation. Participants for both studies were recruited from clinical teams in a National Health Service organisation. Results of Study One showed perceived team communication quality (CQ) was a significant predictor of the level of a knowledge sharing system known as the transactive memory system (TMS), used for the task of team formulation. This relationship was not mediated by team identification (TI) or moderated by the effect of professional identification (PI) on team identification. However, there were significant correlations between CQ and TI, CQ and TMS, and TI and TMS. Study Two focussed on TI and TMS, to explore this relationship in depth and understand its relevance to the model of team formulation. It found that TI and the TMS for team formulation were closely related in a reciprocal manner, enhancing conditions for team formulation. Synthesis and discussion of both studies support the inclusion of team factors in the model of team formulation, highlighting application of the model for future research and clinical practice. The thesis makes a novel contribution to team formulation theory, by uniting team and case formulation research. It provides a model to guide future team formulation research. The utility of the model is demonstrated by the two studies conducted for the thesis. Both studies advance understanding of team conditions and their relevance to the knowledge sharing required in team formulation. Furthermore, the thesis provides opportunities for teams to develop or enhance team formulation practice by suggesting the theory based core components and flow of team formulation practice

Using Design Science Research to Develop a Conceptual Solution for Improving Knowledge Sharing in a Virtual Workspace

Enhancements in technology have resulted in significant changes to day-to-day operations of organizations in the present day. One especially noteworthy change is the alteration in the nature of teams from being co-located, with face-to-face interaction, to virtual, with the involvement of information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate communication. This change in team character has had a downstream impact on a key element of an organization’s competitive edge, namely knowledge. Overall, there is consensus that knowledge is a crucial facet of the competitive edge of an organization. Consequently, knowledge management, knowledge sharing, and organizational learning are essential components of an organization’s sustained existence and effectiveness in the competitive marketplace and considerable academic and industry attention has been paid to this matter. However, the present day scenario of global organizations and dispersed teams, within and across geographies, transforms the matter of knowledge sharing and organizational learning into one of great complexity. Thus, the present study was interested in understanding the modalities of knowledge sharing and consequently organizational learning in the context of a virtual workspace, that is, teams operating from physically distinct locations and communicating using ICT tools. Overall, the objective of this study was to propose a conceptual model using the Design Science Research (DSR) approach to enhance organizational learning and knowledge sharing in the context of the virtual workspaces of the present day work environment. Further, the conceptual model is extended to propose the use of a Learnin

Participatory Instructional Design: a contradiction in terms?

This dissertation is an inquiry into the apparent absence of participatory approaches in instructional design (ID). It explores the question what happens when ID becomes participatory? with the help of three articles. The first article proposes a new approach in ID called Participatory ID, which incorporates principles and techniques of participatory design (PD), a software design approach that calls for genuine user involvement in the design, development, implementation, and maintenance of educational technology. Article 2 explores the feasibility of such an approach in higher education by studying an authentic case of participatory design and development of an electronic portfolio system by its users, namely, by Ph.D. students and faculty members. The design team consisted of 8 Ph.D. students, 1 faculty member, and 1 systems analyst at a large Midwestern US university. The study used qualitative methods to identify activities and processes invented by the design team members to satisfactorily complete their design task. The study also explored ways in which these activities reflected PD principles. Findings indicated five key factors that characterized the design process: (1) maintaining transparency of work processes, (2) continued invoking of the design ethos, (3) maintaining a sense of community, (4) embedding design in user context, and (5) recursive design. Article 3 presents a microanalysis of the participatory ID process described in article 2. It studies the use of language in user-designer conversation during design work. The goal of this article was to understand how design team members used language to negotiate power differences that typically arise when multiple stakeholders participate in a design project. The study used Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Fairclough, 1995), a research approach from sociolinguistics and influenced by critical theory, to examine user-designer conversation from the first year of the electronic portfolio design project. Analysis indicated a strong use of modality (words such as would, could, need to ), cohesion ( and, therefore, then ), and intertextuality (repeating or revoicing other people\u27s utterances), which seems to have helped create a non-threatening atmosphere and support a critical, democratic, and constructive environment for creative design work