Absorptive capacity and ERP implementation in Indian medium-sized firms

Whilst absorptive capacity has been identified as an important contributor to the effective implementation of IT systems, previous studies have failed to explicitly consider the contribution of individual and organizational knowledge processes. Nine case studies of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation were undertaken. The case studies were all undertaken in SMEs in a developing country since this is an important but under research area for the application of the concept of absorptive capacity. A particular implication of the findings is that firms lacking knowledge of IT implementation cannot simply seek this from external sources but must develop internal organizational knowledge processes if their implementations of IT systems are to be effective. This finding is particularly pertinent to the developing country and SME context of this study, where low levels of experience within the firm and the loss of experienced staff are found to impact on the development of absorptive capacity

Utilization and Perceived Benefit for Diverse Users of Communities of Practice in a Healthcare Organization

Communities of practice have been heralded as a powerful knowledge management tool, especially for geographically disparate workgroups. Research into knowledge management (KM) in healthcare organizations is a needed research focus, given that differences exist in knowledge and knowledge management processes between healthcare and other organization types. The research presented in this paper examines the effectiveness of communities of practice as a knowledge sharing tool in a large and geographically disparate healthcare organization. Findings suggest that job role affects community members’ perceptions of the benefit and impact of communities of practice as well as their participation in such communities