Knowledge management during radical change: Applying a process oriented approach

During periods of radical organisational change two elements - namely the organisation's strategy and its people - are affected profoundly. Strategic change involves refocusing the organisation in a direction that has little bearing on its past. People are affected by changes, as they are displaced to other parts of the organisation in different roles, or perhaps, are removed under the euphemism of de-layering, rightsizing and re-engineering. Hence, rather than enhance knowledge, senior managers inadvertently destroy knowledge during a radical organisational change. Yet pressures to change and the pace of change are unrelenting. Senior managers are forced to take an approach that can be summarised as ''change first - limit the damage to knowledge later''. Thus, this paper argues that organisations need a process to manage knowledge during periods of radical organisational change. The paper proposes such a process through case study evidence. It highlights actions managers take to ensure that they navigate the paradox of leading the organisation through radical change and nurture knowledge

Exploring continuous organisational transformation as a form of network interdependence

In this paper we examine the problematic area of continuous transformation. We conduct our analysis from three theoretical perspectives: the resource based view, social network theory, and stakeholder theory. We found that the continuous transformation can be explained through the concept of Network Interdependence. This paper describes Network Interdependence and develops theoretical propositions from a synthesis of the three theories. Our contribution of Network Interdependence offers fresh insights into managing complex change and offers new ways of looking at organisational transformation

Intranet and Knowledge Management: Putting the Cart Before the Horse?

This paper explores the use of intranet-technology to support knowledge intensive decision-making in a technical service delivery process of a major oilfield services company. Our findings show that creating, mobilizing, and exchanging knowledge through an intranet-technology based system delivers forms of benefits to both the organization and its clients, and understanding what organizational knowledge is to be managed and the process of managing it define the role of technology that enables knowledge management

Implementing section 404 of the sarbanes oxley act: Recommendations for information systems organizations

Section 404 of the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Act addresses the effectiveness of internal controls, which in most organizations are either fully or partially automated due to the pervasiveness and ubiquity of information technologies. Significant or material control deficiencies have to be reported publicly. The adverse impact on organizations declaring deficiencies can be severe, for example, damage to reputation and/or market value. While there are many practitioner-led manuals and methods for dealing with 404, there has been little published in the academic research literature investigating the role of Information Systems organizations in implementing Section 404. The paper addresses this gap in knowledge. We used institutional theory as the lens through which to examine the experiences of Section 404 implementation in three global organizations. We used the case study method and an abductive strategy to gather and analyze data respectively. Our findings are summarized in six recommendations. We found that institutional pressures play a critical role in the implementation of Section 404. In particular, organizations face coercive pressure to achieve Section 404 compliance, without which punitive sanctions can be imposed by regulators. Organizations tend to imitate one another in the methods they use so that each is perceived to be in line with their competitive environment. Organizations face normative pressures to act in ways that are socially acceptable, which is to achieve compliance. Failure to do so would be a signal to the market that the organization does not take controls seriously. We expand these findings in terms of power and influence tactics that IS organizations can use when implementing Section 404. Our findings provide directions for practice and lines of enquiry for further research

The knowledge management kaleidoscope: Keeping stakeholders and their expectations in focus

information systems field. Over many years the roots and foundations of the definition of knowledge and its constructs have upheld the view that knowledge is an amorphous entity to be harnessed in its abundance. This developmental paper argues that knowledge is context sensitive and reliant upon an inter-relationship between stakeholders, their expectations, and associated organisational cultural factors which are modified by the lens of organisational context. By using the systems dynamics concept of the Eroding Goals systems archetype, a conceptual model- the Knowledge Management Kaleidoscope - is developed to explain and describe these components as an alternative model of identifying knowledge

Complexities of large-scale technology project failure: A forensic analysis of the Seattle popular monorail authority

“Being stuck in traffic doesn’t have to be a way of life.” This beautiful prologue came from the Elevated Transportation Company (ETC) board’s letter in the ETC Seattle Popular Monorail Plan, one of the largest public works projects ever proposed in the city of Seattle. Three years after this proposal, the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) was shut down by voters on November 8, 2005. This paper critically analyzes the SMP through the lens of stakeholder theory. This perspective provides valuable insights into the failure of the SMP. We theorize that SMP’s failure might have been avoided had its leadership recognized the many stakeholders that had power over the plan and, more importantly, the dynamic changes in relationships between the stakeholders. Failure might also have been avoided by managing conflicts in stakeholders’ expectations. Specifically, we use stakeholder theory to develop four propositions that are relevant in the context of large-scale technology projects. One, organizations are more likely to succeed when have effective mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating interactions between stakeholders and changes in their positions in relation to their strategic innovation projects. Two, organizations are more likely to succeed when they tradeoff the conflicts in expectations and interests that stakeholders hold. Three, organizations are more likely to implement complex technology projects by understanding stakeholders’ expectations and the interplay between stakeholders. Four, organizations are more likely to achieve their innovative projects when they define stakeholders in terms of their power over their strategic objectives. The paper makes a contribution both to the research and practice of major technological infrastructure projects, strategic innovations, and government technology management

Organizational knowledge transfer through creation, mobilization and diffusion: A case analysis of InTouch within Schlumberger

There is a paucity of theory for the effective management of knowledge transfer within large organisations. Practitioners continue to rely upon ‘experimental’ approaches to address the problem. This research attempts to reduce the gap between theory and application, thereby improving conceptual clarity for the transfer of knowledge. The paper, through an in-depth case analysis conducted within Schlumberger, studies the adoption of an intranet-based knowledge management (KM) system (called InTouch) to support, strategically align and transfer knowledge resources. The investigation was undertaken through the adoption of a robust methodological approach (abductive strategy) incorporating the role of technology as an enabler of knowledge management application. Consequently, the study addressed the important question of translating theoretical benefits of KM into practical reality. The research formulates a set of theoretical propositions which are seen as key to the development of an effective knowledge based infrastructure. The findings identify 30 generic attributes that are essential to the creation, mobilisation and diffusion of organisational knowledge. The research makes a significant contribution to identifying a theoretical and empirically based agenda for successful intranet-based KM which will be of benefit to both the academic and practitioner communities. The paper also highlights and proposes important areas for further research

Strategies, contributions and inhibitors of information systems to organizational competitiveness: An empirical analysis within the Caribbean

The study examines the impact of Information Systems (IS) through a consideration of improved competitiveness within a multi-business Caribbean firm. The methodology draws on a participant-observer approach for data collection and compares the application of IS by three business units within each of three organizations. It is argued that while there is already a substantial amount of research on IS effectiveness its value in the context of developing countries such as those of the Caribbean will be most significant. In this context firms are perceived to face more constraints than in developed countries so there is a need to explicitly recognize the effects of ‘inhibitors’. The study finds that for two of these businesses IS can be shown to have contributed to improved competitiveness, while the third had a less satisfactory experience. Analysis of the data revealed that in the two business units where IS contributed the units had been able to improve specific business processes in pursuit of identified competitive strategies. In the unit that did not derive such advantages, limitations in the functionality of the core application combined with insufficient adjustment of business processes, led to the unsatisfactory results. It is also observed that the explanatory value of the empirical analysis is enhanced if we identify inhibitors of IS for competitive advantage and make their effects more explicit