Juan C. Rivera‐Vazquez, Lillian V. Ortiz‐Fournier and Felix Rogelio Flores
This paper aims to identify the cultural barriers that set back knowledge production and sharing in organizations of the Municipality of Caguas at the Commonwealth of the Puerto…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the cultural barriers that set back knowledge production and sharing in organizations of the Municipality of Caguas at the Commonwealth of the Puerto Rico in order to find effective ways to overcome them. The purpose is to explore how the enterprise promotes efficiency among employees and how they develop a suitable environment for knowledge production and sharing.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research consists of in‐depth interviews, carried out to management personnel, and questionnaires submitted to the employees. Two hypotheses are developed and tested using the results obtained from four organizations, public and private.
Findings
The interview responses show that at the managerial level both private and public agencies have overcome the identified barriers that set back the knowledge sharing, while from the questionnaires it is found at the employee level that several cultural barriers such as organizational environment, emotional intelligence and managers' commitment are still present.
Research limitations/implications
Although limited by the small sample of critical actors, this study includes international and regional organizations that serve the Municipality of Caguas. The results may set a basis to develop a methodology to analyze the presence or absence of cultural barriers in other organizations, and municipalities of Puerto Rico.
Originality/value
This investigation may be used to develop standard procedures to cope with culture differences when establishing a suitable environment for knowledge production and sharing among employees.
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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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Eva Martínez-Caro, Gabriel Cepeda-Carrión, Juan G. Cegarra-Navarro and Alexeis Garcia-Perez
The spread of the Internet in the business world has led to the development of new business-to-business (B2B) settings. Although a large number of companies have adopted B2B…
Abstract
Purpose
The spread of the Internet in the business world has led to the development of new business-to-business (B2B) settings. Although a large number of companies have adopted B2B strategies, many of these fail to implement such strategies effectively. The most common barriers encompass the technology assimilation by users. This study investigates how IT assimilation can encourage potential and realised absorptive capacity and how these can, in turn, facilitate organisational agility and performance.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was conducted in Spanish companies that make use of Editran, a platform to support B2B strategies. In total, 110 valid responses were obtained. Advanced analytical methods of PLS-SEM as fit measures and prediction procedure recently developed by Shmueli et al. (2019) were used.
Findings
The results show that there is a positive relationship between the three preceding constructs (IT assimilation, potential and realised absorptive capacity) and organisational agility. This study also finds support for a direct relationship between organisational agility and firm performance.
Originality/value
This study provides a further understanding and forecasting through the theoretical development and empirical investigation of the role of IT assimilation on firm performance in a B2B scenario by: (1) examining the link between IT and the firm's absorptive capacity and, more specifically, with the two subsets of potential and realised absorptive capacity, which have not received much attention from previous literature; and (2) exploring how an improvement in potential and realised absorptive capacity may place firms in a better position to develop their organisational agility.
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Andrei Bonamigo, Arielle da Silva Barbosa, Enzo De Almeida Santana Rocha and Steffan Macali Werner
This paper aims to identify the facilitators and inhibitors of Lean Service 5.0 from a knowledge management perspective.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify the facilitators and inhibitors of Lean Service 5.0 from a knowledge management perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
First, it was conducted a systematic literature review based on the systematic search flow method of Ferenhof and Fernandes (2016), and finally, the authors conducted a content analysis based on Bardin (2011).
Findings
A total of five facilitators were found in the literature: digital transformation, structured communication flow, top management commitment, training and team commitment; and four inhibitors, among them: sociocultural problems, limited knowledge, negative impacts of top management commitment and lack of integration between technologies, that interfere at knowledge management. Based on the findings, a framework that correlates facilitators and inhibitors of Lean Service 5.0 by the knowledge management view was constructed.
Research limitations/implications
The systematic review conducted is not limited to one specific area of service sectors and/or research area. The content analysis can present limitations of content in the function of disponibility and detailment of information presented in the paper analyzed.
Practical implications
The findings in this research and the framework developed allow to provide support to people managers and decision-makers at organizations, in other to formulate strategies to encourage Knowledge Management in service organizations, as well as mitigate inhibitors to the adoption of Lean Service 5.0 in organizations. Furthermore, the findings of this study can provide support to develop procedures, techniques and metrics for the maturity of Lean Service 5.0 from a Knowledge Management perspective.
Social implications
The findings point that people management and culture development turned to continuous improvement by the dissemination of knowledge has been shown as a key element to the success of Lean Service 5.0. Thus, the development of people skills to explicit knowledge is a crucial factor in dealing with inhibitors of lean management in service organizations.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that identifies facilitators and inhibitors to adopting and managing Lean Service 5.0 from a knowledge management view; besides, presents a framework to guide service professionals in the implementation and maintenance of Lean Service 5.0.