Business Process Management, Social Network Analysis and Knowledge Management: A Triangulation of Sorts?

As its name suggests, Business Process Management seeks to manage the processes companies typically undertake on a day to day basis. In line with many management techniques, improvements can made through analysing at varying granularity how processes are actually undertaken compared to how management may consider they are being accomplished and vice versa. One innovative way Business Process Management may be improved is through the use of Social Network Analysis to observe actual working relationships among employees. This latter technique permits the workflow manager specifically to consider how well matched employees are to their workflow and as a result of this, we have a means of either reconstructing workflows or alternatively employee practices. A small research-in-progress case study is presented illustrating how these principles may be applied in practice. Overall one may consider such improvements as aiding in the knowledge management of the organization as a whole

The Production of Power in Organisational Practice – Working with Conflicts as Heuristics

This article argues for the value of working with conflicts in social practice as resources for collaboration, learning and development. The interest in conflicts in social practice is rooted in a preoccupation with social power relations and how to understand and analyse power relations from a subject-science perspective. Following this interest, a methodological framework, best described as a kind of ‘mobile ethnography’, is discussed and exemplified through an empirical example. A preliminary conceptual framework for understanding power as a capacity for action is presented. The overarching ambition of the article is to consider what democratic collaboration and coexistence entails and how it might be supported conceptually and analytically by the notion of conflicts as heuristics for social inquiry and by the notion of power as a capacity for action and social participation

The production of power in everyday life of organizational practice:working with conflicts as heuristics

This article argues for the value of working with conflicts in social practice as resources for collaboration, learning and development. The interest in conflicts in social practice is rooted in a preoccupation with social power relations and how to understand and analyse power relations from a subject-science perspective. Following this interest, a methodological framework, best described as a kind of ‘mobile ethnography’, is discussed and exemplified through an empirical example. A preliminary conceptual framework for understanding power as a capacity for action is presented. The overarching ambition of the article is to consider what democratic collaboration and coexistence entails and how it might be supported conceptually and analytically by the notion of conflicts as heuristics for social inquiry and by the notion of power as a capacity for action and social participation

The Role of Contextual Factors in the Influence of ICT on Street-Level Discretion

Public service workers in the frontline have traditionally enjoyed a wide freedom to make decisions during policy implementation. Research shows that technology has both constraining and enabling effects on public service workers affecting their ability to exercise discretion. What remains unclear is under which circumstances discretion is influenced by technology. Using a case study approach and drawing on neo-institutional theory, this paper studies a court to identify contextual factors affecting the phenomenon. Findings show that technology has no unilateral effect on street-level discretion, and is found moderated by contextual factors such as the degree of social complexity in a case, skills possessed by public service workers, and the need for face-to-face contact. Furthermore, the influence of technology on street-level discretion depends on the technology in use

Antecedents and consequences of problematic smartphone use: A systematic literature review of an emerging research area

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A Knowledge Mapping Approach to Facilitate Strategic Human Resource and Knowledge Management A Knowledge Mapping Approach to facilitate Strategic Human Resource and Knowledge Management

A key challenge facing organisations is how to effectively connect employees who seek knowledge with those who have the necessary knowledge. From case studies conducted in three separate knowledge intensive organisations, briefly introduced in this paper, we found that locating and measuring expertise were major challenges with no current satisfactory solutions. We offer a method to map intellectual capital within organisations distinct from previous expertise location methods in several significant ways. First, it includes the measurement of knowledge value within the context of the organisation\u27s strategy and activities. Second, it addresses concerns with existing methods such as subjectivity associated with self-reporting, currency, and validation by incorporating several innovative techniques such as 360 degree peer review, data mining, and feedback loops. Thirdly the mapping approach incorporates all types of knowledge including tacit and explicit knowledge