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María Teresa Sánchez-Polo, Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Valentina Cillo and Anthony Wensley
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of continuous learning and the mitigation or elimination of knowledge barriers affecting information technology (IT) assimilation…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the role of continuous learning and the mitigation or elimination of knowledge barriers affecting information technology (IT) assimilation in the health-care sector. Most of the problems with IT assimilations stem from a poor understanding of the nature of suitable information, the lack of trust, cultural differences, the lack of appropriate training and hierarchical bureaucratic structures and procedures. To overcome these barriers, this study provides evidence that a continuous learning process can play a part in overcoming some of the obstacles to the assimilation of IT.
Design/methodology/approach
This study investigates how a continuous learning environment can counteract the presence of knowledge barriers, and, along with such an environment, can, in turn, facilitate IT assimilation. The study uses ADANCO 2.0.1 Professional for Windows and involves the collection and analysis of data provided by 210 health-care end users.
Findings
The study provides evidence in support of the proposition that continuous learning may facilitate the assimilation of IT by health-care end users through the mitigation of knowledge barriers (e.g. lack of trust or resistance to change). The mitigation of these barriers requires the gathering and utilization of new knowledge and knowledge structures. The results support the hypothesis that one way in which this can be achieved is through continuous learning (i.e. through assessing the situation, consulting experts, seeking feedback and tracking progress).
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the study is the relatively simple statistical method that has been used for the analysis. However, the results provided here will serve as a preliminary basis for more sophisticated analysis which is currently underway.
Practical implications
The study provides useful insights into ways of using continuous learning to facilitate IT assimilation by end users in the health-care domain. This can be of use to hospitals seeking to implement end user IT technologies and, in particular, telemedicine technologies. It can also be used to develop awareness of knowledge barriers and possible approaches to mitigate the effects of such barriers. Such an awareness can assist hospital staff in finding creative solutions for using technology tools. This potentially augments the ability of hospital staff to work with patients and carers, encouraging them to take initiative (make choices and solve problems relevant to them). This, in turn, allows hospitals to avoid negative and thus de-motivating experiences involving themselves and their end users (patients) and improving IT assimilation. This is liable to lead to improved morale and improved assimilation of IT by end users (patients).
Social implications
As ICT systems and services should entail participation of a wide range of users, developers and stakeholders, including medical doctors, nurses, social workers, patients and programmers and interaction designers, the study provides useful social implication for health management and people well-being.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a better understanding of the nature and impacts of continuous learning. Although previous studies in the field of knowledge management have shown that knowledge management procedures and routines can provide support to IT assimilation, few studies, if any, have explored the relationship between continuous learning and IT assimilation with particular emphasis on knowledge barriers in the health-care domain.
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Md Zahidul Islam, Sajjid M. Jasimuddin and Ikramul Hasan
– This paper aims to examine how organizational culture, structure and technology infrastructure influence knowledge sharing.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine how organizational culture, structure and technology infrastructure influence knowledge sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is based on quantitative research, administered on 90 managerial staff in multinational corporations (MNCs) based in Malaysia.
Findings
The paper explains the role of organizational cultural and structure on knowledge-sharing processes in MNCs, with the moderating effect of technology infrastructure. Learning and development, top management support and centralization are positively related to knowledge sharing, using technology infrastructure as a moderator.
Research limitations/implications
The findings will help MNCs to create an appropriate environment of knowledge sharing. However, the research is limited to MNC’s in Penang, Malaysia, only. Furthermore, similar research can be extended to MNCs in other Asian countries with a larger sample which may bring more statistical power and, thereby, increases generalizability.
Practical implications
The outcome of this research provides useful indications of how organizations can work to ensure knowledge sharing within their work place.
Originality/value
While the links between organizational culture and knowledge sharing and between organizational structure and knowledge sharing have been examined independently, few studies have investigated the association between the three concepts. This paper examines the nature of this relationship and presents empirical evidence, which suggests that the relationship between organizational culture, organizational structure and knowledge sharing is moderated by the technology infrastructure.
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Ibrahim Seba, Jennifer Rowley and Rachel Delbridge
This study aims to contribute to understanding of knowledge management and sharing in the public sector in the Middle East through a case study based investigation of knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to contribute to understanding of knowledge management and sharing in the public sector in the Middle East through a case study based investigation of knowledge management initiatives and associated challenges and barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 15 police officers of different rank and position. Questions focussed on knowledge management strategies and approaches to encouraging employees to exchange and share knowledge, and difficulties associated with encouraging officers to share knowledge. Interviews were either recorded and transcripts created, or notes were taken. A three‐stage thematic analysis of the interview transcripts was undertaken.
Findings
The Dubai Police Force has made a strategic commitment to the development of knowledge management to enhance performance. It established a Skills Investment Programme in 2003, a Knowledge Management Department in 2005, and more recently, in 2009, a Curriculum Department. However, the evidence from interviews suggests that the force has yet to succeed in embedding a knowledge culture. Four key factors were identified repeatedly as potential barriers to knowledge sharing: organizational structure, leadership, time allocation, and trust.
Originality/value
This article demonstrates the importance of leadership, time allocation, and trust in promoting a knowledge culture and encouraging knowledge sharing. In Arab cultures, leadership and trust, and associated rewards such as respect have a particular role to play.
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Mohammad A. Rob and Floyd J. Srubar
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how existing volumes of big city crime data could be converted to significantly useful information by law enforcement agencies using…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how existing volumes of big city crime data could be converted to significantly useful information by law enforcement agencies using readily available data warehouse and OLAP technologies. During the post-9/11 era, criminal data collection by law enforcement agencies received significant attention across the world. Rapid advancement of technology helped collection and storage of these data in large volumes, but often do not get analyzed due to improper data format, lack of technological knowledge and time. Data warehousing (DW) and On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP) tools can be used to organize and present these data in a form strategically meaningful to the general public. In this study, the authors took a seven-month sample crime data from the City of Houston Police Department’s website, cleaned and organized them into a data warehouse with the hope of answering common questions related to crime statistics in a big city in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The raw data for the seven-month period was collected from the website in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format for each month. The data were then cleaned, described, renamed, formatted and then imported into a compiled Access database along with the definition of Facts and Dimensions using a STAR Schema. Data were then transferred to the Microsoft SQL Server data warehouse. SQL Server Analysis Services and Visual Studio Business Intelligent Tool are used to create a Data Cube for OLAP analysis of the summarized data.
Findings
To prove the usefulness of the DW and OLAP cube, the authors have shown few sample queries displaying the number and the types of crimes as a function of time of the day, location, premises, etc. For example, the authors found that 98 crimes occurred on a major street in the city during the early working hours (7 am and 12 pm) when nobody virtually was at home, and among those crimes, roughly two-thirds of them are thefts. This summarized information is significantly useful to the general public and the law enforcement agencies.
Research limitations/implications
The authors’ research is limited to one city’s crime data, whose data set might be different from other cities. In addition to the volume of data and lack of descriptions, the major limitations encountered were the lack of major neighborhood names and their relation to streets. There are other government agencies that provide data to this effect, and a standard set of data would facilitate the process. The authors also looked at data for a nine-month period only. Analyzing data over many years will provide time-trend of crime statistics for a longer period of time.
Practical implications
Many federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are rapidly embracing technology to publish crime data through their websites. However, more attention will need to be paid to the quality and utility of this information to the general public. At the time, there exists no compiled source of crime data or its trend as a function of time, crime type, location and premises. There needs to be a coherent system that allows for an average citizen to obtain this information in a more consumable package. DW and OLAP tools can provide this information package.
Social implications
Having the crime data of a big city in a consumable form is immensely useful for all segments of the constituency that the government agencies serve and will become a service that these offices will be expected to deliver on demand. This information could also be useful in many instances for the decision makers, ranging from those seeking to start a business, to those seeking a place to live who may not necessarily know which neighborhoods or parts of the city are more prone to criminal activity than others.
Originality/value
While there have been few reports of possible use of DW and OALP technologies to study criminal data, the authors found that not many authors used actual crime data, the data sets and formats used in each case are different, results are not presented in most cases and the actual vendor technologies implemented can be different as well. In this paper, the authors present how DW and OLAP tools readily available in most enterprises can be used to analyze publicly available criminal datasets and convert them into meaningful information, which can be valuable not only to the law enforcement agencies but to the public at large.
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Helio Aisenberg Ferenhof, Andrei Bonamigo, Louise Generoso Rosa and Thiago Cerqueira Vieira
Knowledge is companies’ crucial asset, especially when they are inserted in continuous collaboration and value co-creation. However, problems related to knowledge may occur…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge is companies’ crucial asset, especially when they are inserted in continuous collaboration and value co-creation. However, problems related to knowledge may occur without proper management, which can compromise the strategic objectives associated with a business collaboration network. Given the presented gap, this study aims to propose and test a business-to-business (B2B) knowledge management (KM) framework focused on value co-creation. Therefore, this study seeks to answer the following guiding questions: what are the main elements that a KM model should present in a context of value co-creation between companies? What are the limitations? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Is there any group that would benefit most from it?
Design/methodology/approach
This is an exploratory study grounded on mixed methods, having a qualitative approach (systematic literature review and content analysis) followed by a quantitative approach (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis), which grounded the proposed framework.
Findings
The qualitative approach grounded on the systematic literature review resulting in 38 articles that were submitted to content analysis, which resulted in six record units: active communication between the organization, employees and other stakeholders; documents and organizational knowledge stored; knowledge map; collaborative network; searching tools and database, which provided the KM elements to develop and test the proposed framework by the quantitative approach. The results have shown that the framework may assist in managing knowledge in B2B value co-creation relationships.
Research limitations/implications
As an exploratory study, the chosen research approach used nonprobabilistic for convenience sampling. Therefore, the results may lack generalizability. Thus, researchers are encouraged to use probabilistic sampling techniques to ensure generability. Also, more and better items should be used to upgrade the initial questionnaire, improving it and, by doing so, have a better scale.
Practical implications
Assuming the proposed framework’s effectiveness, company managers can use it to drive knowledge within the network of interested parties to promote cooperative products and services. In addition, due to the theoretical framework’s broad vision, it can serve as a strategic aid to leverage innovation, productivity and competitive advantage. This study also provides an initial instrument that assists in understanding KM elements, which may assist in value co-creation.
Originality/value
It was learned that the elements, tools, concepts and KM preconized solutions can assist in value co-creation. Considering that value assists business performance, and value co-creation is one way to enhance it, furthermore, by knowledge sharing, the value co-creation may occur in the B2B ecosystem. Also, it is the first theoretical KM framework proposed to assist companies to understand better ways that could get advantages on structuring knowledge, meaning mapping it, sharing it through a system that can retain what is needed and release it to the ones that need and have the defined access to receive it.
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Mina Ranjbarfard, Mohammad Aghdasi, Pedro López-Sáez and José Emilio Navas López
This paper aims to find and rank the barriers of the four knowledge management (KM) processes including generation, storage, distribution and application in the gas and petroleum…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find and rank the barriers of the four knowledge management (KM) processes including generation, storage, distribution and application in the gas and petroleum sector.
Design/methodology/approach
Reviewing the literature of KM and organizational learning, this paper extracted all of the barriers which impede KM processes. Then it designed a questionnaire for validating, ranking and categorizing barriers. Totally, 190 completed questionnaires were gathered from 26 gas and petroleum companies in Iran. Some statistical tests such as T, Friedman, Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney were used for analyzing data.
Findings
Findings reviewed the current literature of KM barriers, validated and ranked the barriers of knowledge generation, storage, distribution and application separately. The importance of knowledge generation and knowledge application barriers were significantly different between gas and petroleum companies. Hence they were disjointedly ranked for gas and petroleum. Finally, KM barriers were ranked according to their contribution to KM processes and the average mean of their importance in KM processes.
Practical implications
From the practical point of view, this paper suggests managers of gas and petroleum companies to emphasize solving high-priority barriers according to the KM process which they are focused on. Furthermore, the study provides a checklist that can be used as an assessment tool for evaluating KM processes considering barriers.
Originality/value
This paper finds the importance of each barrier for each of the four KM processes and ranks the “critical barriers” according to their contribution to four KM processes in the gas and petroleum sector.
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Quratulain Amber, Abdul Baseer Qazi, Nadeem Javaid, Iram A. Khan and Mansoor Ahmad
This study aims to examine the role of ethical leaders on the knowledge-sharing behavior of public sector employees. Ethical leaders engender knowledge-sharing behavior of…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to examine the role of ethical leaders on the knowledge-sharing behavior of public sector employees. Ethical leaders engender knowledge-sharing behavior of employees by influencing their psychological capital.
Design/methodology/approach
To explore the mechanism by which ethical leaders shape the knowledge-sharing behavior of employees, cross-sectional self-reported data (n = 339) are collected from employees working at decision-making positions in federal ministries in Pakistan.
Findings
Analysis results indicate that ethical leaders influence public employees to share knowledge with colleagues. Moreover, the mediary role of ethical values, organizational identification and altruism is evident, however, the mediary role of self-efficacy is not evident from results.
Practical implications
This implies that policymakers should be cognizant of the indirect mechanism by which ethical leaders positively influence the behavior of public employees. This knowledge helps them consider the recruitment, promotion and training of employees, especially the leaders, in line with the required ethical value consideration in public sector organizations.
Originality/value
This research is based on originally collected data from the field.
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This study aims to determine barriers to innovation and to develop a quantitative model for the barrier to innovation in Vietnamese construction organizations of different sizes.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to determine barriers to innovation and to develop a quantitative model for the barrier to innovation in Vietnamese construction organizations of different sizes.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review and discussions with experienced practitioners were implemented to determine barriers to innovation in construction organizations. The rank-based non-parametric test analyzed collected data from a questionnaire survey to examine if there were significant differences between the three groups of organizations, including small, medium and large construction organizations. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) technique was employed to develop barrier indexes (BIs) for organizations of different sizes in Vietnam.
Findings
The findings showed 17 barriers to innovation which were categorized into four groups, including organizational, human resources, economic and market barriers. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences regarding barriers to innovation between small, medium and large construction organizations in Vietnam. The post hoc test highlighted barriers to innovation differently separated into two groups: SMEs and large construction organizations. The FSE analysis integrated the identified barriers into the comprehensive BIs for SMEs and large construction organizations. The FSE analysis illustrated that the organizational barrier is the most critical barrier for SMEs. On the other hand, the market barrier received the most significant attention in large construction organizations.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first integrated barriers to innovation into a comprehensive formulation. The indexes provide the decision-makers with a practical and reliable tool to evaluate barriers to innovation in construction organizations of different sizes.
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Anil Kumar Goswami and Rakesh Kumar Agrawal
This study aims to build the intellectual structure of knowledge sharing (KS) research by objectively and systematically capturing and sketching the content of research papers…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to build the intellectual structure of knowledge sharing (KS) research by objectively and systematically capturing and sketching the content of research papers published in the KS research area.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a systematic literature review for data collection, and content analysis and bibliometric techniques of citation and co-citation analysis for data analyses and interpretation.
Findings
Based on the study, the intellectual structure of KS research consisting of five themes has emerged. The five themes identified are: models, frameworks and understanding for KS, the behaviour-oriented perspective of KS, technology-oriented perspective of KS, KS barriers and KS and firm’s performance.
Research limitations/implications
This study has used published literature extracted from selected journals using the web of science database. More journals and databases may be included in future studies.
Practical implications
This study will give future researchers a comprehensive understanding of KS discipline and serve as a quick reference and resource for those interested in KS research. It identifies major areas of KS for the practitioners to enable them to focus and apply various organizational interventions to derive a competitive advantage. The identified themes in the intellectual structure of KS will also provide a holistic view and give multiple perspectives to practitioners so that they can better manage KS in their organizations.
Originality/value
This is among early studies aiming to extract the intellectual structure of KS in the broad area of knowledge management research.