Harnessing Intellectual Resources in a Collaborative Context to Create Value

The value of electronic collaboration has arisen as successful organisations recognize that they need to convert their intellectual resources into customized services. The shift from personal computing to interpersonal or collaborative computing has given rise to ways of working that may bring about better and more effective use of intellectual resources. Current efforts in managing knowledge have concentrated on producing; sharing and storing knowledge while business problems require the combined use of these intellectual resources to enable organisations to provide innovative and customized services. In this chapter the collaborative context is developed using a model for electronic collaboration through the use of which organisations may mobilse collaborative technologies and intellectual resources towards achieving joint effect.electronic collaboration;value creation;collaborative computing;knowledge management and intellectual resources

Mapping knowledge management and organizational learning in support of organizational memory

The normative literature within the field of Knowledge Management has concentrated on techniques and methodologies for allowing knowledge to be codified and made available to individuals and groups within organizations. The literature on Organizational Learning however, has tended to focus on aspects of knowledge that are pertinent at the macro-organizational level (i.e. the overall business). The authors attempt in this paper to address a relative void in the literature, aiming to demonstrate the inter-locking factors within an enterprise information system that relate knowledge management and organizational learning, via a model that highlights key factors within such an inter-relationship. This is achieved by extrapolating data from a manufacturing organization using a case study, with these data then modeled using a cognitive mapping technique (Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping, FCM). The empirical enquiry explores an interpretivist view of knowledge, within an Information Systems Evaluation (ISE) process, through the associated classification of structural, interpretive and evaluative knowledge. This is achieved by visualizng inter-relationships within the ISE decision-making approach in the case organization. A number of decision paths within the cognitive map are then identified such that a greater understanding of ISE can be sought. The authors therefore present a model that defines a relationship between Knowledge Management (KM) and Organisational Learning (OL), and highlights factors that can lead a firm to develop itself towards a learning organization

Carving out new business models in a small company through contextual ambidexterity: the case of a sustainable company

Business model innovation (BMI) and organizational ambidexterity have been pointed out as mechanisms for companies achieving sustainability. However, especially considering small and medium enterprises (SMEs), there is a lack of studies demonstrating how to combine these mechanisms. Tackling such a gap, this study seeks to understand how SMEs can ambidextrously manage BMI. Our aim is to provide a practical artifact, accessible to SMEs, to operationalize BMI through organizational ambidexterity. To this end, we conducted our study under the design science research to, first, build an artifact for operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation. Then, we used an in-depth case study with a vegan fashion small e-commerce to evaluate the practical outcomes of the artifact. Our findings show that the company improves its business model while, at the same time, designs a new business model and monetizes it. Thus, our approach was able to take the first steps in the direction of operationalizing contextual ambidexterity for business model innovation in small and medium enterprises, democratizing the concept. We contribute to theory by connecting different literature strands and to practice by creating an artifact to assist managemen

Group-Level Exploration and Exploitation: A Computer Simulation-Based Analysis

Organisational research has studied the tension between exploration and exploitation for years. In essence, this body of research agrees on the necessity of a balance between explora-tive and exploitative processes to prevent an organisation from falling into a learning trap. Thus, to enhance the active management of this balance in organisations, a deeper theoretical understanding of the factors that influence the development of exploration and exploitation has to be gained. One of the recently discussed factors is the interplay between exploration and exploitation on different organisational levels. This paper picks up this discussion. It pro-vides an in-depth, computer simulation-based analysis of the performance of organisational types with varying degrees of within-group and between-group exploration and exploitation in situations of different degrees of task complexity. The findings indicate that a high share of between-group processes as compared to within-group processes positively influences the organisational performance level and that dependent on task complexity the optimal share of exploration and exploitation varies.Organisational Learning, Experience-Based Learning, Exploration, Exploitation, Knowledge Management, Genetic Algorithms

Beyond categorization: new directions for theory development about entrepreneurial internationalization

Categorizations emphasizing the earliness of internationalization have long been a cornerstone of international entrepreneurship research. Here we contend that the prominence of categories has not been commensurate with theory development associated with them. We draw on categorization theory to explain why earliness-based categories are persistent, and argue that a greater focus on notions related to opportunity can open new avenues of research about the entrepreneurial internationalization of business. We propose and discuss three directions for opportunity-based research on entrepreneurial internationalization, involving context, dynamics and variety

Evolution of Supply Chain Collaboration: Implications for the Role of Knowledge

Increasingly, research across many disciplines has recognized the shortcomings of the traditional “integration prescription” for inter-organizational knowledge management. This research conducts several simulation experiments to study the effects of different rates of product change, different demand environments, and different economies of scale on the level of integration between firms at different levels in the supply chain. The underlying paradigm shifts from a static, steady state view to a dynamic, complex adaptive systems and knowledge-based view of supply chain networks. Several research propositions are presented that use the role of knowledge in the supply chain to provide predictive power for how supply chain collaborations or integration should evolve. Suggestions and implications are suggested for managerial and research purposes

Linking business analytics to decision making effectiveness: a path model analysis

While business analytics is being increasingly used to gain data-driven insights to support decision making, little research exists regarding the mechanism through which business analytics can be used to improve decision-making effectiveness (DME) at the organizational level. Drawing on the information processing view and contingency theory, this paper develops a research model linking business analytics to organizational DME. The research model is tested using structural equation modeling based on 740 responses collected from U.K. businesses. The key findings demonstrate that business analytics, through the mediation of a data-driven environment, positively influences information processing capability, which in turn has a positive effect on DME. The findings also demonstrate that the paths from business analytics to DME have no statistical differences between large and medium companies, but some differences between manufacturing and professional service industries. Our findings contribute to the business analytics literature by providing useful insights into business analytics applications and the facilitation of data-driven decision making. They also contribute to manager's knowledge and understanding by demonstrating how business analytics should be implemented to improve DM