National Culture Influences in Cross-Cultural Software Development Teams: an analysis of social networks

Team dynamics and ingroup behaviour are critical factors in software development projects. In Western organisations, software development cultures promote rational values to be pursued at industry, development, and team levels of analysis. While Western values dominate the culture of software teams, increased globalisation has led to more IS being developed by teams with a cross-cultural make-up. In this paper, propositions regarding the interactions of software teams comprising members from Western and Chinese cultures are developed. These propositions highlight potential conflicts that may arise within cross- cultural development teams. A social network analysis of a small software development team is presented in order to investigate these propositions

Knowledge Management Strategies: developing an activity-based approach

In practice, the implementation of knowledge management strategies may be driven by alternative orientations. This paper examines the relationship between the orientations that drive the implementation of KM strategies and the distinct knowledge management activities themselves. An alternative approach to the development of knowledge management strategies that uses an appropriate combination of knowledge management drivers is proposed and a preliminary analysis of practitioners who have implemented knowledge management initiatives is presented as the basis for further research

Theorising Organisational Learning and the Impact of Information Systems: Talcott Parsons, Anthony Giddens and Niklas Luhmann

The concept of organisational learning has been approached from various perspectives and the consequent fragmentation in the literature has been criticized due to the lack of understanding in the social nature of knowledge work. In this paper it is contended that the current approach to the design of information systems with respect to organisational learning is somewhat limited and that social aspects of the nature of organisational learning and organisational knowledge are not explicitly considered. By reviewing three alternative approaches to understanding social organisation, this paper argues that a synthesis of these different orientations can provide a basis for information systems design that is more encompassing of the social nature of organisational learning and organisational knowledge

Mapping the Knowledge Environment – Processes, Social Networks and Knowledge

Deciding on a strategy for knowledge management initiatives requires a detailed understanding of the knowledge environment of the organisation. Knowledge maps can provide a picture of what currently exists but must include what happens in the informal social networks. This research in progress describes the development of a methodology to elicit processes, social networks and knowledge types (codified, common, social and embedded) as a preliminary to any research or consulting project