Empowering Organizations through Customer Knowledge Acquisition: A pilot investigation

Customers are becoming more powerful, and customer knowledge can empower organizations and improve their performance. Customer knowledge has been classified in three categories: knowledge FOR customer, knowledge ABOUT customer and knowledge FROM customer. The value of knowledge management has been recognized by organizations. However, the value of external customer knowledge has not fully been recognized, and its impacts have not been sufficiently investigated. Consequently, the objective of this study is to empirically assess the impact of acquiring each type of customer knowledge. Based on preliminary analysis of 13 organizations in banking industry, this study detected that the acquisition of customer knowledge is significantly associated with business processes, employees, products, customers, market and financial performance

Learners’ Perspective on Critical Factors to LMS Success in Blended Learning: An Empirical Investigation

The use of Learning Management System (LMS) in academic institutions is becoming an imperative for many institutions. The success of LMS in academic institutions may be initiated by instructors’ adoption; however, LMS survives in the long run by learners’ continuous adoption and use. Consequently, the objective of this article is to examine the critical factors that influence the success of LMS in blended learning in terms of actual usage, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user satisfaction from the learners’ perspective. The study also examines how these success measures impact learners’ continuous intention to use LMS in blended learning. These critical factors are related to the major entities of LMS adoption: learner characteristics (computer anxiety, technology experience, self-efficacy, and personal innovativeness), instructor characteristics (attitude, teaching style, control, and responsiveness), LMS characteristics (system quality, information quality, and service quality), classmates characteristics (attitude and interaction), course characteristics (quality and flexibility), and organization characteristics (management support and training). Based on 512 learners, the results showed that all of these factors are critical to one or several success measures, except for learner self-efficacy, instructor online responsiveness, and management support. The results also showed that all success measures are critical to learners’ continuous intention to use LMS in blended learning

A Pilot Study of IOKSS in the Health Sector

This pilot study aims to assess the predictors of knowledge workers’ attitudes toward the inter-organizational knowledge sharing system (IOKSS) in the health sector. The deployment of IOKSS in knowledge-intensive sectors can be valuable and crucial for effective social and economic development, especially in developing countries. Knowledge workers’ attitudes toward IOKSS are critical, as they are the driving force of such systems; however, prior research on inter-organizational systems (IOS) has focused on organizational adoption, and mainly on vertically-linked organizations. Based on preliminary data collected from medical doctors in various organizations in the health sector, this study indicated that several factors related to individuals, peers, proposed IOKSS, the organization, and sector were significantly correlated with knowledge workers’ attitudes. Such results can provide several insights for researchers and practitioners on their adoption of IOKSS

DO ICT INVESTMENTS IMPROVE BANKS PERFORMANCE IN OMAN? RESEARCH IN PROGRESS (35)

The Oman 2020 vision aims at the diversification of the national economy. The banking sector is playing a major role in diversification and economic development. Information and communications technologies (ICT) is vital for the development of a diversified and knowledge-based economy. Assessing the impact of ICT investments in the banking sector is critical for operational and strategic planning. Based on data gathered from 2001-2015 in three banks in Oman, this study found that ICT asset value is positively correlated with financial indicators such as operating income, profit before tax, and yearly profit; whereas it is negatively correlated with financial ratios such as return on average assets, return on average equity, and return on investment. This in-progress research provides some useful insights from an under-investigated region. However, it has some limitations, and further research is needed before any conclusions can be drawn about the impact of ICT on bank performance in Oman

IMPROVING BREAST CANCER AWARENESS THROUGH AN EXPERT SYSTEM (18)

The mission of this research paper is to demonstrate the development of a breast cancer awareness and diagnosis expert system utilizing human experts’ knowledge that focuses on users’ lifestyle, personal and family history, and various symptoms of breast cancer to raise awareness about this disease and help early detection. Breast cancer is considered a second kind of cancer impacting women’s lives globally, and it affects about twenty percent of women in Oman, mainly due to a lack of awareness and early detection programs in some places and to cultural barriers. This study developed a simple breast cancer awareness and diagnosis expert system prototype to raise awareness among the female population in particular and to help diagnose breast cancer at early stages for better success rates in treatment. The system has been developed by using a web content rule-based expert system shell. Subsequent to the development of the system, it was evaluated by various users to check its benefits and advantages through a set of evaluation criteria. The potential users noted the advantages and limitations of the system

Revealing the Antecedents and Benefits of KMS Use: An Exploratory Study in a Petroleum Company in Oman

This pilot study aimed to explore technical and social antecedents and benefits of KMS use in a petroleum company in Oman. Data was collected through questionnaire given to KMS users. From the technical perspective, results uncovered that both knowledge utilizers and contributors were concerned about the system ease of use, speed and integration. Knowledge utilizers also valued knowledge richness in terms of relevancy and timeliness. From the social perspective, both knowledge utilizers and contributors considered time/availability as the major determinant of their behaviors. The results also suggested that knowledge utillizers valued the technical factors more than the social factors, whereas, knowledge contributors valued the social factors more than the technical factors. The study also revealed that KMS use resulted not only in individual benefits, but also organizational benefits. These achieved net benefits further boost KMS use

Revealing the Antecedents and Benefits of KMS Use: An Exploratory Study in a Petroleum Company in Oman

This pilot study aimed to explore technical and social antecedents and benefits of KMS use in a petroleum company in Oman. Data was collected through questionnaire given to KMS users. From the technical perspective, results uncovered that both knowledge utilizers and contributors were concerned about the system ease of use, speed and integration. Knowledge utilizers also valued knowledge richness in terms of relevancy and timeliness. From the social perspective, both knowledge utilizers and contributors considered time/availability as the major determinant of their behaviors. The results also suggested that knowledge utillizers valued the technical factors more than the social factors, whereas, knowledge contributors valued the social factors more than the technical factors. The study also revealed that KMS use resulted not only in individual benefits, but also organizational benefits. These achieved net benefits further boost KMS use

The Motivators and Benefits of Sharing Knowledge to a KMS Repository in an Omani Organization

Knowledge is a powerful resource that enables individuals and organizations to achieve several benefits such as improved learning and decisionmaking. Repository knowledge management system (KMS) assists organizations to efficiently capture their knowledge for later reuse. However, the breadth and depth of a knowledge management system depends on the magnitude of knowledge contributed to the system. This paper aimed to empirically investigate the motivators of knowledge sharing behavior and the individual benefits of such behavior in a culture where knowledge is perceived as power and private. Based on 104 employees in a major private petroleum organization in Oman and the partial least square analysis methodology, the results suggested that knowledge contributors were motivated by the system technical characteristics and the organizational-culture dimensions such as management support and rewards policy. Information technology service quality and peers trustworthiness were not significant motivators for sharing knowledge