Abel Usoro and Grzegorz Majewski
Knowledge sharing (KS) processes in knowledge‐intensive organizations (KIOs) need to be understood with regard to not only the important role information technology (IT) plays but…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge sharing (KS) processes in knowledge‐intensive organizations (KIOs) need to be understood with regard to not only the important role information technology (IT) plays but also human factors. This research aims to describe the human factors that influence KS and to propose an explanatory model.
Design/methodology/approach
Beginning with a critical review of the most recent KM literature, this research developed key components of successful KS in both knowledge provider and knowledge recipient roles played by the participants of virtual communities of practice (VCoPs). It developed a KS model that was validated through an empirical quantitative and qualitative research at the Laurea Lab in Finland.
Findings
This paper's main finding is an empirical validation of a model for KS in KIOs.
Research limitations/implications
Primary data were collected from only one institution. This may limit the scope of generalisation of findings. It is therefore necessary to conduct this study in other KIOs.
Practical implications
This research provides a few practical managerial implications. Managers of VCoPs in KIOs should be aware of the role IT and human factors play in KS processes.
Originality/value
This research proposes a model which incorporates both the knowledge provider and the knowledge recipient roles played by participants of VCoPs in knowledge‐sharing organizations. This model may be used to evaluate the functioning of VCoPs.
Details
Keywords
Grzegorz Majewski, Abel Usoro and Imran Khan
This paper aims to improve understanding of knowledge‐sharing (KS) processes that occur in Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVW), which offer much richer opportunities for KS than…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to improve understanding of knowledge‐sharing (KS) processes that occur in Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVW), which offer much richer opportunities for KS than standard text‐based environments.
Design/methodology/approach
Starting with a systematic literature review of the most recent trends in knowledge‐sharing and virtual worlds, this research investigates potential factors of KS in IVW. A conceptual model was developed and empirically validated.
Findings
The rich environment provided by IVW results in higher levels of KS but a sense of community and other motivations for KS in IVW is the same as in standard virtual environments. The validated research model that explains the interaction of the motivating factors with KS is presented.
Research limitations/implications
Primary data were collected from only one group in one IVW. This may limit the scope of generalisation of findings. It is advised that this study should be conducted with a number of immersive virtual communities or practice (IVCoP) in a variety of virtual worlds.
Practical implications
Owners and managers of IVWs should promote perception of community, trust and reciprocity, as they are very important for keeping and growing virtual communities in immersive environments. Concurrently it is necessary to ensure that the amount of social part introduced is in line with the goals of the community.
Originality/value
This research proposes a model for knowledge sharing in virtual communities of practice (CoP) in immersive virtual worlds (IVW). It may be used to evaluate the functioning of such communities of practice. It also suggests methods of research in such an environment.
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Marcin Chodnicki, Katarzyna Bartnik, Miroslaw Nowakowski and Grzegorz Kowaleczko
The motivation to perform research on feedback control system for unmanned aerial vehicles, a fact that each quadrocopter is unstable.
Abstract
Purpose
The motivation to perform research on feedback control system for unmanned aerial vehicles, a fact that each quadrocopter is unstable.
Design/methodology/approach
For this reason, it is necessary to design a control system which is capable of making unmanned aerial vehicle vertical take-off and landing (UAV VTOL) stable and controllable. For this purpose, it was decided to use a feedback control system with cascaded PID controller. The main reason for using it was that PID controllers are simple to implement and do not use much hardware resources. Moreover, cascaded control systems allow to control object response using more parameters than in a standard PID control. STM32 microcontrollers were used to make a real control system. The rapid prototyping using Embedded Coder Toolbox, FreeRTOS and STM32 CubeMX was conducted to design the algorithm of the feedback control system with cascaded PID controller for unmanned aerial vehicle vertical take-off and landings (UAV VTOLs).
Findings
During research, an algorithm of UAV VTOL control using the feedback control system with cascaded PID controller was designed. Tests were performed for the designed algorithm in the model simulation in Matlab/Simulink and in the real conditions.
Originality/value
It has been proved that an additional control loop must have a full PID controller. Moreover, a new library is presented for STM32 microcontrollers made using the Embedded Coder Toolbox just for the research. This library enabled to use rapid prototyping while developing the control algorithms.