Reliable and valid measurement scales for determinants of the willingness to accept knowledge

Before any acquired knowledge is used or adds value to the receiving project (members), it must be accepted by its recipients, leading to an increase in their positive attitudes towards, and intended use of, the acquired knowledge. To be willing to accept knowledge, the receiving project's team members must perceive it to have value and be easy to use. The focus of this exploratory paper is to develop and empirically test relevant sub-dimensions of perceived value and ease-of-use. The sub-dimensions were identified through a literature review, and measurement scales were developed empirically by applying a well-established scale development methodology

Linking project-based production and project management temporary systems in multiple contexts : an introduction to the special edition

As organisations in more and more industries look for flexible ways of production in the wake of rapidly changing market environments, project-based organising is becoming anincreasingly important mode of organisation (Eisenhardt & Tabrizi, 1995). Whereas projectbased organisation was traditionally mainly the domain of industries such as film making (Sorenson & Waguespack, 2006), theatre (Goodman& Goodman, 1976), and construction (Gann & Salter, 2000), a project-based mode of operation has recently pervaded many other sectors in the economy, including software development, advertising, biotechnology, consulting, emergency response, fashion, television and complex products and systems (Grabher, 2004; Hobday, 2000).http://www.sajems.org/am201

Project-based production and project management : findings and trends in research on temporary systems in multiple contexts

Globalisation is challenging almost every aspect of the political, economic, social and technological environment. Organisations, whether public or private, have to adapt their strategies and operations to stay competitive and efficient. Historically, organisations adopted project-based operations as a mode to stay competitive, although the applications tended to be the oneoff type of operations such as construction and system development projects (Edum-Fotwe & McCaffer, 2000). As the world changed from an industrially driven to a more knowledge driven economy and the pace of continuous change became more intense, organisations adopted a project-based mode of operations on a broader scale. The knowledge economy lead to the creation of many service orientated industries. Organisations started facing portfolios of projects where the nature of these projects differed in technological complexity, urgency, customer value and social impact (Gutjahr & Froeschl, 2013). Based on their experience with more technically orientated projects, organisations focused their attention more intensely on new project management methods, tools and processes and not necessarily on the human and organisational interfaces. This paradigm changed however, especially since the 1980s and more and more organisations adopted temporary organisational forms (Bakker, 2010) in order to improve their competitiveness. The contributions in this special edition of the South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences have a common focus on the importance of the human and organisational interface of project-based operations on project success. The purpose of this concluding article is to analyse the findings and recommendations in these papers and to detect trends and future research opportunities in the field of project-based operations.http://www.sajems.org/am2014ai201

Does technology and Innovation Management improve Market Position? Empirical Evidence from Innovating Firms in South Africa

There is a growing recognition of the central role of technology and knowledge management for market success of organizations. Little is empirically know, however, about this relationship. Drawing on the South African Innovation Survey, a unique dataset on innovative behavior of South African firms in manufacturing and services, this paper investigates the question to what extent and in which ways do technology and innovation management activities affect firms’ market position. Findings show that conducting technology strategy activities pays out. Moreover, especially a combination of internal and external technology audits seems to be beneficial for organizational performance

Unveiling TM practices in developing countries

The management literature acknowledges the dominance of the US-based theories in management research across the globe. This general dominance is not studied for different sub-disciplines of management at the empirical level, with few exceptions such as a study carried out for organizational studies (Usdiken and Pasadeos, 1995). Such a lack is also observed for the technology management (TM) literature even though the TM discipline has a history of almost 50 years. There are a number of intellectual reasons why this is an interesting research theme. Understanding the dominance of developed country-based theory might help researchers to discover the conditions and the dynamics involved in the transfer of theoretical orientations and most importantly the implications of the dominance at the practical level. If literature is dominated with the US-based theory, what are its implications for researchers around the world? Is there really convergence of theories due to their being universal observations of capitalist economical and industrial infrastructures in developing and developed countries? If they converge, this might not necessarily mean that all economies, different cultures, countries resemble each other, however. The similarity might be because theoretical outlets such as management journals might not accept out-of-the-norm papers in this field, limiting the development of distinct technology management literature arising from the actual needs of developing country managers. If they do not converge, it is of great importance to understand the differences in theory and practice of these theories in different country contexts. Cross-cultural researchers believe that there is no such thing as a universal theory of management. Meta-theoretical assumptions supporting US-based management theories and practices have not been questioned, particularly in regards to their deployment in non-Western contexts. In addition, the emphasis of research on "cultural differences" imply "separation", which would also conceal other social and cultural formations established through global relationships. These arguments remain subjective as long as there are not enough data comparatively investigating the developments in the literature. Although research has made important contributions towards the understanding of TM practices in developing countries, both theoretical and empirical research is required in order to develop a better understanding. That is why this special issue is focused on TM in developing countries

Project-based production and project management: Findings and trends in research on temporary systems in multiple contexts

Globalisation is challenging almost every aspect of the political, economic, social and technological environment. Organisations, whether public or private, have to adapt their strategies and operations to stay competitive and efficient. Historically, organisations adopted project-based operations as a mode to stay competitive, although the applications tended to be the oneoff type of operations such as construction and system development projects (Edum-Fotwe & McCaffer, 2000). As the world changed from an industrially driven to a more knowledge driven economy and the pace of continuous change became more intense, organisations adopted a project-based mode of operations on a broader scale. The knowledge economy lead to the creation of many service orientated industries. Organisations started facing portfolios of projects where the nature of these projects differed in technological complexity, urgency, customer value and social impact (Gutjahr & Froeschl, 2013). Based on their experience with more technically orientated projects, organisations focused their attention more intensely on new project management methods, tools and processes and not necessarily on the human and organisational interfaces. This paradigm changed however, especially since the 1980s and more and more organisations adopted temporary organisational forms (Bakker, 2010) in order to improve their competitiveness. The contributions in this special edition of the South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences have a common focus on the importance of the human and organisational interface of project-based operations on project success. The purpose of this concluding article is to analyse the findings and recommendations in these papers and to detect trends and future research opportunities in the field of project-based operations.http://www.sajems.org/am2014ai201

Refining the classification of knowledge transfer mechanisms for project-to-project knowledge sharing

Background: The complex, unique and temporary nature of projects makes project-to-project knowledge transfer challenging and has attracted attention from both practitioners and academic scholars. This challenging nature of project-to-project knowledge transfer led to the proliferation of a host of tools and instruments (so-called knowledge transfer mechanisms) in which little structure can be discovered making selection by (project) managers a difficult task. Aim: This article aims to deal with this unstructured proliferation of knowledge transfer mechanisms by empirically categorising these transfer mechanisms, thereby reducing the number of mechanisms to groups that share a common characteristic. Setting: The study takes stock of the wide range of knowledge transfer mechanisms available and analyses them in terms of specific characteristics (e.g. explicitness or reach). Methods: A multi-method approach is used in which a multi-level latent class analysis is applied on data collected via an expert panel. Results: Five categories of transfer mechanisms could be empirically established where these mechanisms showed common characteristics. Conclusion: The taxonomy developed will allow organisations and project managers to more efficiently select appropriate transfer mechanisms for use in project-to-project knowledge transfer

Refining the classification of knowledge transfer mechanisms for project-to-project knowledge sharing

BACKGROUND : The complex, unique and temporary nature of projects makes project-to-project knowledge transfer challenging and has attracted attention from both practitioners and academic scholars. This challenging nature of project-to-project knowledge transfer led to the proliferation of a host of tools and instruments (so-called knowledge transfer mechanisms) in which little structure can be discovered making selection by (project) managers a difficult task. AIM : This article aims to deal with this unstructured proliferation of knowledge transfer mechanisms by empirically categorising these transfer mechanisms, thereby reducing the number of mechanisms to groups that share a common characteristic. SETTING : The study takes stock of the wide range of knowledge transfer mechanisms available and analyses them in terms of specific characteristics (e.g. explicitness or reach). METHODS : A multi-method approach is used in which a multi-level latent class analysis is applied on data collected via an expert panel. RESULTS : Five categories of transfer mechanisms could be empirically established where these mechanisms showed common characteristics. CONCLUSION : The taxonomy developed will allow organisations and project managers to more efficiently select appropriate transfer mechanisms for use in project-to-project knowledge transfer.http://www.sajems.orgam2017Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM