Aligning KM initiatives with business strategy

This paper describes a case of knowledge management activity from the strategic view of the organisation. It describes a case involving the evaluation of performance on strategic objectives.An analysis is made from the perspective of an activity system going through cycles of expansive learning.The performance assessment is qualitative rather than quantitative in nature so that results of such holistic assessment can be used creatively to improve performance through innovation and adaptation

Taking the Green IS Message to the World

Issues of sustainability and environmental responsibility are of such global importance that it critical to get the Green IS message outside the IS community to those who can make use of it in practice. This will not happen if we just follow the traditional path of publishing the findings of this research in IS conference and journals. The knowledge that we are gaining through Green IS research should be disseminated to as wider an audience as possible so that the findings of Green IS research can be applied where they can really make a difference. This paper investigates what, where and how we can achieve this outcome

Design as Research: Emergent Complex Activity

There is current interest in design science as a research method in the field of Information Systems. This paper explores this proposition by incorporating established theories into the design research process. These include a view of information systems as essentially socio-technical, notions of tool mediation and expansive learning from Activity Theory and the concept of emergence from Complexity Theory where good design outcomes come from non-deterministic and organic processes. A case of innovative collaborative systems development illustrates how this view of design science may be of value

A Taxonomy of modes of knowledge sharing between disparate groups

While there is an abundance of literature on knowledge sharing within teams, there is a scarcity of literature on the transfer of knowledge between disparate groups where communication and coordination are difficult due to the diversity of attributes such as culture, language and priorities. The inspiration for this work comes from a project on the use of the web to enhance communication between clinicians and the families of patients in intensive care units. The paper also draws from relevant research on topics such as cross-functional teams, shared situational awareness, jointness, interagency cooperation and inter-organisational boundary- spanning. This investigation is grounded in concepts from Complexity Theory and Activity Theory and has resulted in the taxonomy of modes of knowledge sharing between disparate groups that is presented and discussed in this paper. There are five items in the taxonomy, namely Ad hoc, Spokesperson, Mediator, Embedded, Boundary Spanner. Each is described and discussed based on the research experience and an analysis of relevant literature. The motivation in presenting this taxonomy is to provide a useful tool for understanding and to stimulate a deeper and broader appreciation of this topic

Information support for the sense-making activities of managers

This thesis addresses the problem of how computer technologies and associated systems can be used effectively to provide information, in particular organisational performance information, to support managers in their strategic activities, with particular reference to managers in public, professional bureaucracies such as universities. The objective of the thesis is to answer the following questions: 1. What do different disciplines and bodies of knowledge cwrently say about this problem? 2. Is there a theoretical approach that can provide a holistic, contextual and dynamic understanding of this problem? 3. Can this theory be used to develop a holistic, contextual and dynamic model of the problem? 4. Can the model provide guidelines or methodologies that can be of general use to real organisations faced with this problem? The approach taken is one of a qualitative, interpretive epistemology and the theoretical basis is that of the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) based on the work of the Russian psychologists Vygotsky (1978) and Leontiev (1981). Following a review of the literature, a study was conducted of five projects aimed at the provision of information to management at a single site. This study used the historical research methodology of Mason et al (1997). From this study a new holistic model was developed of the use of computer technologies and associated systems in providing information to support managers in their strategic activities. This model is contrasted with a model of the same problem based on the current literature. A framework, derived from the model, is presented. The new model and framework were applied to a project concerning the creation of a prototype enterprise information system for research output performance in a university. This project, guided by the model, captured the imagination of management and is a significant improvement on previous attempts, thus verifying the validity of the model and the CHAT approach

A Cultural-Historical Activity Theory Approach to Users, Usability and Usefulness

This paper takes an historical overview of the field of Human-Computer Interaction. It describes how the cognitive psychology emphasis on user involvement in systems development of the 1980s reached its limit by the early 1990s. At this point the focus shifted onto support for the tasks of users using computer-based systems in real contexts, a focus that ideally suits the mobile, ubiquitous and social technologies of the new millennium. The Cultural-Historical Activity Theory provides an appropriate framework for understanding this phenomenon and is adopted in this paper to present the work, over a seven year period, of a usability laboratory grounded in Activity Theory principles

Was the Copenhagen Summit doomed from the start? Some insights from Green IS research

At the 2009 Copenhagen Summit on Climate Change, COP15, so many contradictory demands were apparent that it is doubtful whether it produced many useful outcomes. In this paper we question whether it, and summits like it, may be inherently doomed to fall short of expectations. With its experience of the intrinsic contradictions within socio-technical systems, the Information System’s profession may provide some insights into complex issues such as climate change. IS research has often demonstrated that imposed top-down solutions rarely provide the most promising way to approach highly complex problems. On the other hand, bottom-up emergent processes, though less politically acceptable, may take us in the direction we need to go. This paper reviews and reports Green IS research to make a case for a multifaceted approach to the climate change problem, with the suggestion that the IS experience may inform global approaches to finding bottom-up solutions to climate change

The Social Innovation Network (SInet) University of Wollongong Final Report 2015

[extract] A decade ago, discussions were held between Prof Margaret Sheil, the then Pro Vice- Chancellor (Research), and researchers in the social science on the most effective structures by which the University\u27s Research Office could recognize and support research excellence in areas other than science and engineering. Most of the Research Strengths funded at the time adopted the traditional institute structure, which suited science and engineering where costly laboratories and equipment were needed. We pointed out that research in Social Sciences, Humanities, Business and Education tended to occur in small groups all over campus between which there were multiple connections. The resulting networks were highly effective but had low visibility and recognition

Increasing Demands On Information Systems And Infrastructures For Complex Decision-Making

To extend the development of cumulative theory on the enduring themes of Information Systems (IS), we take an historical perspective of a core topic within the field, namely Decision Support Systems (DSS). Motivated by the complexity of strategic decision-making within the Climate Change Working Group of the State Government of New South Wales, we conducted a content analysis of IT strategy documentation from 1989 to the present. In our analysis of the resulting concept maps we observe the increasing dynamism and complexity of DSS over this period and suggest that we are now entering a critical era for IS in dealing with such dynamism and complexity. Crucial issues such as climate change now require planning over much longer time frames (up to 100 years) than are currently considered by either government or business. The decision-making of the Working Group calls for the integration of very large data sets and the sharing of information from many different government agencies and external sources. In a pattern of distributed leadership there is an increase in participation from citizens in decision-making for local climate change initiatives often through social media. We re-evaluate DSS not as IS but as a broad „information infrastructure‟ which can flexibly and rapidly adapt to the needs of specific projects

Making Sense of IS with the Cynefin Framework

This paper examines aspects of the field of Information Systems (IS) concerned with its diversity and with the rapid changes within the discipline that have been incurred by the continued evolution of the IS artefact. This examination is done in order to establish the suitability of the Cynefin framework, developed for knowledge management, as a suitable tool for sense-making in IS. A description and assessment of the Cynefin framework is provided with its varied applications in both organisational practice and research. The paper then applies the framework to make sense of some historical trends and contemporary issues of IS emphasising their diversity and changing nature. We conclude with speculation on how this approach may help guide future sense-making in IS research