Elaine Ferneley and Polly Sobreperez
The use of storytelling as a knowledge elicitation tool has attracted much attention in recent years, yet there is limited literature on how to illicit or stimulate the story…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of storytelling as a knowledge elicitation tool has attracted much attention in recent years, yet there is limited literature on how to illicit or stimulate the story. This paper aims to find appropriate research instruments that stimulate storytelling and morph vocalised individual narratives into multifaceted stories that provide an insight into the emotions, politics and “life” of organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses an in depth case‐study approach undertaken within the UK Fire and Rescue emergency service and uses the concept of storytelling as a research instrument to elicit highly contextualized knowledge from knowledge holders. The intention is not to attempt to find an objective truth but rather to stimulate discursive openness.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that the developed story elicitation technique can stimulate storytelling and story creation. The research provides a simple formalism for structuring story elicitation and analysis.
Research limitations/implications
It would be useful if future research explored the use of the story elicitation technique presented here in other domains, particularly those where multiple stakeholders are involved and therefore there is the possibility of multiple “truths.”
Practical implications
The story elicitation will make a practical contribution to the management “toolbox” providing managers with a mechanism for stimulating storytelling, especially in complex situations where multiple perspectives need to be considered.
Originality/value
This paper presents a non‐prescriptive investigative tool for studying the multidimensional nature of storytelling and legitimisation.
Details
Keywords
Peter H. Gray and Darren B. Meister
Knowledge management (KM) research lacks a common conceptual core; it is cross‐disciplinary, addresses a wide variety of phenomena, and has difficulty distinguishing itself from…
Abstract
Knowledge management (KM) research lacks a common conceptual core; it is cross‐disciplinary, addresses a wide variety of phenomena, and has difficulty distinguishing itself from many related areas of research. The result is a fragmented field that is itself artificially split from the related literature on organizational learning. KM may be progressing through a predictable life‐cycle that could end in collapse of the KM concept unless researchers can develop more integrative core theories of learning‐ and knowledge‐related phenomena in organizations. The diverse body of organizational learning and knowledge management research provides an impressive foundation for the synthesis of such broader theories of learning and knowledge that are creative, new, and integrative.
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Alistair George Tough and Paul Lihoma
The purpose of this research is to identify ways in which medical record keeping systems and health information systems might be integrated effectively and sustainably. The aims…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to identify ways in which medical record keeping systems and health information systems might be integrated effectively and sustainably. The aims include minimising the workload of busy frontline health professionals and radically improving data quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative research project, grounded in the theoretical stance that information systems are sociotechnical systems. The primary focus of this research is on real-life custom and practice. The study population consisted of participants in information systems. As is common in qualitative research, sampling was purposive rather than statistically representative.
Findings
This research suggests one unconventional conclusion. New approaches that use intermediate and hybrid technologies may have a better prospect of delivering satisfactory, realistic and affordable medium- to long-term solutions than strategies predicated on the assumption that only systems that are wholly electronic are worth considering.
Originality/value
This research is original in the sense that it investigated records rather than information technology systems. The findings are likely to be of applicability in other developing countries, especially those that share legacy systems with Malawi, such as Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.