Aligning Human Resource Management with Knowledge Management for Better Organizational Performance: How Human Resource Practices Support Knowledge Management Strategies?

Contributing to the HR-approach to knowledge management (KM), this chapter aims at outlining the role of human resource management (HRM) in supporting KM through utilizing the theoretical and empirical literature. The article is divided into two sections. The first section presents various knowledge concepts, KM perspectives and KM strategies. This section ends up by linking these topics in a KM sequential model which helps us to track the philosophical underpinnings and perspectives of each KM strategy. The second section investigates various HR orientations and HR practices and situates their differing contextual characteristics under each KM strategy. It aligns various HR practices with different KM strategies; suggesting that HRM is most effective as a combination of practices that are consistent and sharpened in supporting each KM strategy, which is part of the organizational strategy. The debated practices are recruitment and selection, compensation management, training and development, performance management, retention management and career management. Each of those practices is speculated to alter based on the chosen KM strategy; presenting a framework that is useful for practitioners and academics alike. The review ends up by identifying some research gaps and opportunities to be carried out in future studies. Those research gaps, if addressed, will extend our understanding of KM and the supporting role HRM

A Systematic Review and Synthesis of Empirical Research on “Knowledge Leadership”: A New Insight in the Field of Knowledge Management

This paper aims to synthesize findings drawn from studies on knowledge leadership to identify the key trend of research in the knowledge management literature over the past two decades. A systematic literature review was performed over a data set of 149 related studies published in the international journals indexed by the WoS, SCOPUS, ProQuest, Google Scholar, Emerald Insight, and Elsevier databases between 2001 and 2021. The findings conceptualized the nature of “knowledge leadership” and revealed six core themes focusing on multiple leadership styles, knowledge leadership for learning, effective KM leadership, leader-member exchange, and customer knowledge leadership. Additionally, the content analysis revealed the importance of knowledge leaders being more transformational, distributed, empowering, and visionary. It has been widely reported that transformational leadership is a significant driver of knowledge management practices in the organization. This study provides an integrated picture of effective knowledge leadership for managers and practitioners that significantly depends on a paradigm shift from hierarchical structures and traditional models of leadership to the use of shared, distributed, and networking leadership. Given this increasing interest in studying the role of leadership in KM, it is interesting to investigate the research trend of knowledge leadership in the KM literature.https://dorl.net/dor/20.1001.1.20088302.2022.20.4.11.

Aligning human resource management to knowledge management within the UK management consulting sector

This study aims at investigating the alignment between human resource management (HRM) and knowledge management (KM). The research was motivated by the increasing trend towards highlighting the role of HRM practices in supporting KM and its activities. Effective and efficient KM is claimed to only be possible if firms address its human dimension in addition to its information technology (IT) one. The review of relevant literature showed that there was a lack of sufficient empirical research to support the theoretical claims linking HRM to KM. Available empirical studies are rare and subject to criticism that question the validity of the studies. Two empirical research questions are adopted for this study: (1) How is KM perceived and implemented within the management consulting sector in the UK? (2) What is the role of HRM in supporting KM within the management consulting sector in the UK? The context of this study is the 'management consulting sector in the UK. This sector was thought optimal for uncovering links between HRM and KM, mainly due to the nature of this sector; it is arguably knowledge-intensive and is a major employer of a highly skilled workforce. The study utilised mixed methods to address the research questions, which were investigated in both an intensive and an extensive manner. Several methods were utilised as well to ensure replication, complementation and triangulation. The first method is a descriptive survey to assess extensively HRM, KM and their interrelations in the UK management consulting sector. A total of 52 participants replied to the survey, out of a sample of 323 organisations, achieving a response rate of 16.1 %. The second method comprises semi-structured qualitative interviews covering a representative sample of the survey sample. A total of 15 interviews were conducted at this research stage. The third method includes two mini case studies that were chosen based on the companies having a developed KM initiatives arid HRM practices. A total of five interviews were conducted; several relevant documents were also collected from each of the two organisations. The thesis generated several major findings that impact on the relevant literature. There is little evidence of formal holistic KM initiatives in the management consulting sector. KM is chiefly addressed through IT management. At the informal level, KM is viewed as a set of activities where the most cited activity is knowledge-sharing. Therefore, this study found that research is more useful, if it focuses on where knowledge resides and what are the contextual characteristics under each KM orientation. The study identified four KM strategies that organisations might adopt. The combination strategy is found to be the most adopted by consultancies followed by the codification, personalisation and laissez faire strategies. The study focused on the following contextual characteristics under each strategy: culture type, leadership style, IT, knowledge types, knowledge sources, KM responsibility and dominant KM activities. Each KM strategy has a distinctive set of contextual characteristics. Afterwards, the HRM function was found to have a limited role in supporting KM - and when some roles are claimed, they are identified as indirect and reactive, As for the HRM practices, practitioners viewed them as natural contributors to KM at various intensities, although they have not designed them with the intention to do so. Above all, participants perceived PA, R&S and T &D as significant contributors to KM. The thesis then moves on to allocate the contextual characteristics of the HRM practices under each KM strategy, which further illustrates the implicit role of those practices In supporting K.M. The case studies have added some depth to our understanding of this research branch. Firstly, they highlighted the internal politics and power struggles caused by introducing KM initiatives. Secondly, they illustrated how various KM strategies exist within the same organisation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Aligning human resource management to knowledge management within the UK management consulting sector

This study aims at investigating the alignment between human resource management (HRM) and knowledge management (KM). The research was motivated by the increasing trend towards highlighting the role of HRM practices in supporting KM and its activities. Effective and efficient KM is claimed to only be possible if firms address its human dimension in addition to its information technology (IT) one. The review of relevant literature showed that there was a lack of sufficient empirical research to support the theoretical claims linking HRM to KM. Available empirical studies are rare and subject to criticism that question the validity of the studies. Two empirical research questions are adopted for this study: (1) How is KM perceived and implemented within the management consulting sector in the UK? (2) What is the role of HRM in supporting KM within the management consulting sector in the UK? The context of this study is the 'management consulting sector in the UK. This sector was thought optimal for uncovering links between HRM and KM, mainly due to the nature of this sector; it is arguably knowledge-intensive and is a major employer of a highly skilled workforce. The study utilised mixed methods to address the research questions, which were investigated in both an intensive and an extensive manner. Several methods were utilised as well to ensure replication, complementation and triangulation. The first method is a descriptive survey to assess extensively HRM, KM and their interrelations in the UK management consulting sector. A total of 52 participants replied to the survey, out of a sample of 323 organisations, achieving a response rate of 16.1 %. The second method comprises semi-structured qualitative interviews covering a representative sample of the survey sample. A total of 15 interviews were conducted at this research stage. The third method includes two mini case studies that were chosen based on the companies having a developed KM initiatives arid HRM practices. A total of five interviews were conducted; several relevant documents were also collected from each of the two organisations. The thesis generated several major findings that impact on the relevant literature. There is little evidence of formal holistic KM initiatives in the management consulting sector. KM is chiefly addressed through IT management. At the informal level, KM is viewed as a set of activities where the most cited activity is knowledge-sharing. Therefore, this study found that research is more useful, if it focuses on where knowledge resides and what are the contextual characteristics under each KM orientation. The study identified four KM strategies that organisations might adopt. The combination strategy is found to be the most adopted by consultancies followed by the codification, personalisation and laissez faire strategies. The study focused on the following contextual characteristics under each strategy: culture type, leadership style, IT, knowledge types, knowledge sources, KM responsibility and dominant KM activities. Each KM strategy has a distinctive set of contextual characteristics. Afterwards, the HRM function was found to have a limited role in supporting KM - and when some roles are claimed, they are identified as indirect and reactive, As for the HRM practices, practitioners viewed them as natural contributors to KM at various intensities, although they have not designed them with the intention to do so. Above all, participants perceived PA, R&S and T &D as significant contributors to KM. The thesis then moves on to allocate the contextual characteristics of the HRM practices under each KM strategy, which further illustrates the implicit role of those practices In supporting K.M. The case studies have added some depth to our understanding of this research branch. Firstly, they highlighted the internal politics and power struggles caused by introducing KM initiatives. Secondly, they illustrated how various KM strategies exist within the same organisation.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Risk factors for unfavourable postoperative outcome in patients with Crohn's disease undergoing right hemicolectomy or ileocaecal resection. An international audit by ESCP and S-ECCO

Aim: Patient- and disease-related factors, as well as operation technique, all have the potential to impact on postoperative outcome in Crohn's disease. The available evidence is based on small series and often displays conflicting results. The aim was to investigate the effect of preoperative and intra-operative risk factors on 30-day postoperative outcome in patients undergoing surgery for Crohn's disease. Method: This was an international prospective snapshot audit including consecutive patients undergoing right hemicolectomy or ileocaecal resection. The study analysed a subset of patients who underwent surgery for Crohn's disease. The primary outcome measure was the overall Clavien\u2013Dindo postoperative complication rate. The key secondary outcomes were anastomotic leak, reoperation, surgical site infection and length of stay in hospital. Multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were used to produce odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results: In all, 375 resections in 375 patients were included. The median age was 37 and 57.1% were women. In multivariate analyses, postoperative complications were associated with preoperative parenteral nutrition (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.10\u20134.97), urgent/expedited surgical intervention (OR 2.00, 95% CI 1.13\u20133.55) and unplanned intra-operative adverse events (OR 2.30, 95% CI 1.20\u20134.45). The postoperative length of stay in hospital was prolonged in patients who received preoperative parenteral nutrition (OR 31, 95% CI 1.08\u20131.61) and those who had urgent/expedited operations (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.07\u20131.37). Conclusion: Preoperative parenteral nutritional support, urgent/expedited operation and unplanned intra-operative adverse events were associated with unfavourable postoperative outcome. Enhanced preoperative optimization and improved planning of operation pathways and timings may improve outcomes for patients