Cooperation after War: International Development in Bosnia, 1995 to 1999

This paper discusses how predispositions, incentives, the number and heterogeneity of participants, and leadership (Faerman et al. 2001) jointly influenced the international effort to develop Bosnia and Herzegovina. International coalitions, task forces, and advisory groups are increasingly charged with implementing reforms following civil conflict. This requires a complex web of interorganizational relationships among NGOS, donors and host nations at both global and ‘ground’ levels. To better understand development assistance, attention must be paid to the relationships between these varied players. We find that four factors influenced relationships between policy, donor, and implementing organizations; and those strained relationships, in turn, affected development success. The paper draws on interviews, conducted in Bosnia, with 43 development professionals, observation of development meetings in Tuzla and Sarajevo, and review of related documents from international development programs.international development, interorganizational relationships and cooperation

Cooperation after war

This paper discusses how predispositions, incentives, the number and heterogeneity of participants, and leadership (Faerman et al. 2001) jointly influenced the international effort to develop Bosnia and Herzegovina. International coalitions, task forces, and advisory groups are increasingly charged with implementing reforms following civil conflict. This requires a complex web of interorganizational relationships among NGOS, donors and host nations at both global and "ground" levels. To better understand development assistance, attention must be paid to the relationships between these varied players. We find that four factors influenced relationships between policy, donor, and implementing organizationsand those strained relationships, in turn, affected development success. The paper draws on interviews, conducted in Bosnia, with 43 development professionals, observation of development meetings in Tuzla and Sarajevo, and review of related documents from international development programs

Participative Practices and In-Role Performance in the Korean Local Government: Focusing on an Individuals Perceptions of Human Resource Development Practices

Considering inconsistent results in the extant literature regarding whether participative practices improve performance, we focused on the mediating roles of an individuals perception of human resource development practices, including training and career development, on the relationship between the two constructs. We began by examining the validity of the constructs under the study. Next, using structural equation modeling, we found that an individuals perception of career development fully mediates the relationships between the two participative practices, including participation and empowerment, and in-role performance. In addition, the findings indicated that individuals perception of training fully mediates the relationship between empowerment and performance, but failed to play a mediating role on the relationship between participation and performance

The nature of knowledge and its influence on knowledge sharing practice: Experiences from building the MACROS system

This study investigates how the interactive influences of the nature of knowledge and multiple organizational and technological factors - trust, leadership, incentives and issues, group size and variety, implementation strategy, and technology - facilitated and/or impeded the knowledge sharing processes. Using a case study approach, the research focuses on the modifying effects of four characteristics of knowledge - codifiability, context-embeddedness, practice-embeddedness, and dynamics - on the processes and outcomes of knowledge sharing in a case of building the Multi-Purpose Access for Customer Relations & Operational Support (MACROS) System involving multiple organizations, divisions, and geographically separated offices. The case results suggest that modifying effects occurred along at least three dimensions - codifiability, context-embeddedness, and practice-embeddedness. The levels of codifiability appeared to dictate the implementation strategy; reduced context-embeddedness allowed for more effective group coordination; reduced context-embeddedness also enhanced trust; codified knowledge is more effective than uncodified knowledge in demonstrating concrete incentives; and technology interacts with contextembeddedness and practice-embeddedness. The results of this study have theoretical and practical implications for a larger set of problems encountered in sizable organizations. More specifically, even though the relevance of the nature of knowledge has been widely acknowledged (e.g., [1-3], it is not always clear how it comes into play. This study conceptualized the nature of knowledge as a modifying variable, and the results provide a new and more comprehensive framework for investigating the relevance of the nature of knowledge in knowledge management research

Distributed leadership in the development of a knowledge sharing system

This paper studies leadership dynamics in the development of a knowledge sharing system. We apply the concept of distributed leadership, examining how leadership roles are distributed across different individuals in the organisation during developing and implementing a knowledge sharing system. The results of a case study demonstrate that the leadership was fulfilled by the interdependent and emergent roles played by several individuals: the spearheading and coordinating roles of a knowledgeable and persistent project leader, the supporting and steering roles carried by a group of perceptive and collaboration-inclined executives, and the knowledge sharing and momentum driving roles performed by knowledge champions. Each of these leadership influences was indispensable. None of the leaders could have accomplished this task individually, without the active involvement of the other types of leaders. This research makes its contribution to the understanding of the emergence and dynamics of distributed leadership in the information system environment, and demonstrates the importance of a full awareness of distributed leadership as tasks are carried out in developing a knowledge sharing system. © 2007 Operational Research Society Ltd. All rights reserved

Comparing Employee Attitudes Towards Individualism-Collectivism across Public and Private Sector Organizations

One hundred thirty on responses from public employees and 154 responses from private employees were analyzed to compare employee attitudes towards individualism-collectivism across public and private sector organizations. The present study provides knowledge to public management by showing that some organizational characteristics of public sector organizations (i.e., goal ambiguity, red tape, and public-service motivation) make the public-private distinction, whereas others do not. Additionally, we found that the distinction has been blurred as New Public Management (NPM) has been adopted recently in the public sector. Finally, we support the two-factor model of organizational collectivism and individualism, as well as report that organizational individualism differentiates public and private sector organizations. The theroretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

Divergent Approaches and Converging Views: Drawing Sensible Linkages between Knowledge Management and Organizational Learning

Knowledge management (KM) and organizational learning (OL) have developed in both divergent and convergent ways. In particular, these fields have relatively distinct intellectual traditions and conditions that gave rise to disciplines, as well as a certain level of disparity in research focus and view of knowledge. For example, KM focuses more on the content of knowledge and products of managing the knowledge, while OL emphasizes the process of meaning creation, decision making, and growth of learning capability. The two literatures also reveal, however, convergences with regard to the nature of knowledge and knowledge sharing in the organizational context. Thus the two fields have started to establish a consolidated view of knowledge, in which knowledge is related to practice and situated in the historical, social, and cultural context where it is created and acquired. In addition, both fields recognize the multi-level nature of knowledge and learning and are striving to bridge the gap between individual knowledge and collective memories

The nature of knowledge and its influence on knowledge sharing practice: experiences from building the MACROS system

This study investigates how the interactive influences of the nature of knowledge and multiple organizational and technological factors—trust, leadership, incentives and issues, group size and variety, implementation strategy, and technology—facilitated and/or impeded the knowledge sharing processes. Using a case study approach, the research focuses on the modifying effects of four characteristics of knowledge—codifiability, contextembeddedness, practice-embeddedness, and dynamics—on the processes and outcomes of knowledge sharing in a case of building the Multi-Purpose Access for Customer Relations & Operational Support (MACROS) System involving multiple organizations, divisions, and geographically separated offices. The case results sugges

The paradoxical nature of collaboration

In the past two decades, there has been an increasing use of intra-and interorganizational collaborations across organizations in the public, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors. In the public and nonprofit sectors, in particular, agencies have begun to recognize that many policy problems are not neatly bounded by the organizational lines of particular government agencies, and there are numerous case examples of agencies working with other agencies across levels of government; across agencies at the federal, state, and local levels; and across sectors, as state and local agencies work more collaboratively with nonprofit agencies and for-profit organizations (Bardach 1998; Linden 2002; Milward and Provan 2006). Perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of the creation of collaborative systems can be seen in the events following September 11, 2001, where, in the aftermath of this tragedy, a call was made to coordinate federal, state, and local initiatives aimed at securing the United States from further domestic and international attack and, in fact, a new cabinet-level agency-the Department of Homeland Security-was created to coordinate the efforts of more than forty federal agencies along with state and local counterparts in defending the homeland. Of course, many less-dramatic examples of collaboration exist, as agencies recognize the value of sharing information and resources with other agencies working toward similar, if not the same, goals