Knowledge and Process Management

Publisher:
Wiley
Publication date:
2021-02-01
ISBN:
1092-4604

Latest documents

  • A conceptual framework for process‐oriented employee appraisals and rewards

    This study aims to translate generic human resource management (HRM) appraisals and rewards toward an organization's business processes for better aligning organizational practices to a process orientation and for a successful business process management (BPM) adoption. We conducted an interdisciplinary study with three phases. Firstly, we conducted a literature study to obtain a list of typical business process characteristics that can be relevant for HRM appraisals and rewards. Secondly, we used an expert panel to validate and refine this list. Finally, we integrated those concepts into generic theories and frameworks on HRM appraisals and rewards through a translation study. We provide a conceptual framework of process‐oriented HRM appraisals and rewards that integrates HRM and BPM concepts. The framework presents process‐specific characteristics to supplement generic HRM appraisals and rewards frameworks. Given the challenges of aligning function‐based appraisals and rewards to a business process orientation, the framework can help tackle interdisciplinary challenges and brings a high‐level understanding of what to focus on during this alignment.

  • Defining the term knowledge worker: Toward improved ontology and operationalization

    Despite the strategic value of organizational knowledge as a source of sustainable competitive advantage, researchers have voiced their concern over the potential imprecision and undue use of the term “knowledge worker” in the relevant research literature. In order to identify the nature of this imprecision and discuss ways of overcoming addressing it, we analyzed 223 articles from diverse fields that make reference to the concept of “knowledge worker”. Applying content analysis, we analyzed the definitions identified and the types of worker considered by researchers to be knowledge workers. It was observed that the term ‘knowledge worker’ has been used for occupations and professions with different levels of complexity, including those that were mostly operational. In addition, we observed that the term ‘knowledge worker’ is used, in a majority of instances, without any definition being offered (67.7%). Subsequent semantic analysis of the set of actions attributed to knowledge workers aided in the identification of additional descriptors that assisted in the conceptualization the term. In the analyzes, the sole appearance of the verb exploit in an article in the field of Geography & Transport stood out, leading us to consider a link between the active work conducted by knowledge workers and the exploitation‐exploration dyad in accordance with the concepts of the fields of innovation and learning. The analysis of the article did not confirm our initial perception. After observing the non‐use of the exploitation‐exploration dyad in none of the definitions of the term knowledge worker in the 223 articles that were analyzed, and in the literatures cited in these articles, we considered this fact an opportunity for contribution. Therefore, this study presents the development of an innovative new definition for the term knowledge worker, associating it with actions of the exploration of organizational knowledge, whereas the term information worker is associated with actions of the exploitation of organizational knowledge. We close the discussions by addressing the impacts of these definitions for the practitioners and academics who work with the themes of knowledge management, organizational learning, core competences, and process management.

  • “Knowledge management is not dead. It has changed its appearance. And it will continue to change”

    This study aims to examine the place and future of the Knowledge Management (KM) discipline, in view of the claims of its decline. In doing so, we explored the meanings attributed by international KM experts regarding statements made about the death of the discipline, or at the very least, its illness. A case method was chosen. The study was conducted through fifteen semi‐structured in‐depth interviews, as part of the qualitative research paradigm. The findings provide evidence not only of the vitality of the field, but also of its significant growth and impressive evolutionary development since it was founded. The Findings section presents a snapshot of KM experts' perception of the source of the pessimistic statements about the discipline and offer significant insights into the question of where this field is going. We find that the future of KM lies in developing automated mechanisms for knowledge flow that rely on machine learning tools, artificial intelligence, and advanced cognitive capabilities. Furthermore, we ponder the possibility of a rebranding of KM, given the experts' feeling that narrow, partial, or misconceived conceptions about it are prevalent. The importance of this pioneering research is reflected in the adoption of a critical‐skeptical approach, which is almost completely absent from the KM literature. The uniqueness of this research is also reflected in the voices of KM professionals. In addition to the theoretical contribution, this study has implications on the practical level regarding the necessity of the KM profession and the necessity for further empirical research in the field.

  • Issue Information
  • Alignment of knowledge management process with clinical process to support evidence based decision in healthcare improvements: The case of selected Ethiopian hospitals

    This article aims to explore existing knowledge management (KM) process in healthcare sectors and argues for an effective KM alignment with the clinical processes. Basically, it discusses KM's processes such as knowledge capture, knowledge store, and knowledge transfer to support decision making. This article uses an ethnographic approach to studying the KM process in selected Ethiopian hospitals. Methods include qualitative interviews with senior administrators and various levels medical and administrative staff that record the existing ways of KM, knowledge process, medical decision makers, and support of KM for a medical decision maker. It include both primary and secondary data collected from health professionals in selected hospitals. A semistructured interview was employed to acquire the required knowledge from the selected domain. The findings highlight the weak trends of KM in our sample hospitals. Our results articulated ways to improve KM processes, increase the quality of health services, and support evidence‐informed decision making. This article recommends the need for a detail view of KM strategy/policy supporting or assisting decision makers.

  • What is not hidden about knowledge hiding: Deciphering the future research directions through a morphological analysis

    Knowledge hiding is an intentional attempt by an individual to withhold knowledge. Though knowledge hiding as a research area has gained popularity only in recent years, the withholding of information has been a concern for business organizations for a long time, having significant implications for knowledge management. Accordingly, knowledge hiding as a construct has received enough deliberations from the practitioners. However, academic researchers have called for more systematic research on knowledge hiding, giving us enough motivation to carry out a research study on the same. First, this article attempts to decipher the term “knowledge hiding” by defining it and differentiating it from several synonymous terms. Second, some of the existing knowledge hiding frameworks are analyzed. Finally, a morphological analysis of the selected literature, including a qualitative rating, estimating the extent of the work is undertaken, which throws light into the areas that have already been studied and underscores the pertinent 184 research gaps worthy of further investigation. In addition to the identification of these distinct research gaps, the analysis categorically establishes two outcomes. The findings suggest that around half of the total research literature on knowledge hiding evolved in the last 2 years, which makes it a salient area of research. The extent of work done in knowledge hiding, captured by an average qualitative rating score of 2.55 out of 5 underscores that this novel construct bears large research potential. Therefore, a morphological analysis, as carried out in this article, strengthens the current understanding on knowledge hiding and provides the impetus for further research in the area.

  • COVID‐19 induced emergent knowledge strategies

    The pandemic of COVID‐19 is considered the most complex global process generated so far due to its unprecedented power of disruption, interconnection, and lockdowns in all the domains of our life, from health to economy, education, research, culture, sports, and social isolation. The COVID‐19 crisis came like any other natural disaster, finding people and organizations unprepared for disruptive power and social nexus. The unthinkable became a reality, and people realized that organizations and governments have no strategies to fight against such a pandemic. They found out that the strategic knowledge gap is enormous, and the only way to navigate this crisis is to create emergent knowledge strategies. This paper aims to analyze the characteristics of emergent knowledge strategies by comparing them with deliberate knowledge strategies and showing how people can develop such new kinds of strategies. The analysis is based on criteria like time perception, systems thinking, type of knowledge, type of changes, and complexity.

  • Termination of personal relationship and their effects on knowledge sharing in supply chains

    The existence of strong personal relationships (friendship, etc.) has been the subject of much research in the supply chain knowledge management literature. Many researchers have argued that such relationships have a positive impact on knowledge sharing across the supply chain. However, it is important to acknowledge that the termination of a personal relationship may well adversely affect the knowledge transfer process between the supply chain member firms. This study addresses the impact of the termination of personal relationships within the supply chain. An exploratory study was employed via semi‐structured interviews with 20 senior managers from 10 different companies based in the United Arab Emirates. The findings reveal five distinct factors that adversely affect knowledge transfer between the managers of buying and supplying firms, once their personal relationships are terminated. These factors further result in inferior knowledge transfer between the partnering firms.

  • Customer knowledge management in SMEs: Review and research agenda

    Customer knowledge is one of the most noteworthy assets for firms to manage in order to improve their products and gain competitive advantage while meeting the customer needs. Customer knowledge management (CKM) arises when firms see the significance of customers as a source of firm's knowledge. More importantly, customers alter from passive product receiver into active knowledge partners and generate co‐created knowledge with firms. However, despite the popularity of promoting entrepreneurship and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for economic development, research studies, examining CKM in the context of SMEs, are relatively small and diverse. In this paper, the authors discuss the concept of CKM from a comprehensive literature review as well as other related concepts that are anticipated to have relationships with CKM in SMEs, namely knowledge‐oriented leadership (KOL), trust in management, and firm performance. A thorough analysis of past research confirms that the existing literature in this area is highly fragmented. By integrating the main findings of relevant research streams, a detailed overview of the literature on CKM in the context of SMEs is established, and a research agenda is set up.

  • Knowledge sharing and innovation: A systematic review

    The purpose of this article is to investigate the ways in which innovation and knowledge sharing have been studied together in the academic literature. The method employed in this study was a systematic review that covered publications on knowledge sharing and innovation from 1973, when the first article relating the two topics was published, to 2017. The survey was based on 7,991 articles from the Scopus and ISI Web of Science databases using VantagePoint 11.0 software. Four periods were identified in the relationship between innovation and knowledge sharing: embryonic, emergent, growth young, and growth highest. The relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation continues to grow based on the number of papers published on the topic by year. This is the first systematic review of the relationship between knowledge sharing and innovation.

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