bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A clumsy dance: the political economy of American police and policing
Authors: Daleiden J. Robert
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to incorporate historical theories of political economy as means better to clarify and classify contemporary state police and private policing practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A diverse historical investigation of largely, non‐traditional public police history was conducted by utilizing a selective variety of social, political, and economic sources.

Findings

The paper finds that several theoretical features of eighteenth and nineteenth century Marxian, classical, and neoclassical political economy have contributed in defining the origins of contemporary American public police and private policing practices. Born from these perspectives, public goods theories frameworks, in conjunction with Wilson's police officer job function typologies inVarieties of Police Behavior,more clearly illustrate the current political and economically defined state supported police relative to private market arrangements.

Research limitations/implications

This research describes the positioning of this mixed economy in theoretical fashion, but does not provide contemporary private sector market growths or publicly supplied police trends that are a suitable next step for further research.

Practical implications

The public “monopoly” of state supported police is largely rejected. More interdisciplinary research approaches should be pursued in the twenty‐first century that better reflect the American political and economic realities of public and private forms of policing.

Originality/value

This paper is highly original when considering the paucity of theory utilized in describing simultaneous state and private policing scenarios.
Lawsuits involving the police: a content analysis of newspaper accounts
Authors: Archbold Carol A. , Lytle Daniel , Weatherall Corneshia , Romero Ann , Baumann Catherine
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study lawsuits involving the police using newspaper accounts from three large cities in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

A content analysis was conducted using 634 newspaper articles from theNew York Times, Chicago Sun‐Times, and theLos Angeles Timesfrom 1993‐2003.

Findings

Research findings reveal how prevalent racial and gender discrimination issues are in lawsuits involving the police; some of the differences in lawsuits filed by police employees compared to those filed by citizens; the extent of disciplinary action taken against police officers named in lawsuits, and any organizational changes (i.e. department policies, procedures, or training) made as a result of lawsuits filed against police agencies.

Research limitations/implications

The findings from this study are based solely on what the newspapers chose to report. It may be the case that newspapers only report on extraordinary lawsuits involving the police, or lawsuits that result in moderate to large jury awards or settlements.

Practical implications

Since there is currently no national data collection effort focused on lawsuits filed against the police, researchers are left to use the data sources available to them (in this case, newspaper articles).

Originality/value

This paper presents the first study of lawsuits involving the police using newspaper accounts. Previous studies have used survey data, court records, and interviews.
Examining the career plateau among police officers
Authors: Burke Ronald J. , Mikkelsen Aslaug
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This study aims to examine the career plateau by comparing police officers having 15 or more years of service who had been promoted with police officers having 15 or more years of service who had not.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 389 police officers in Norway using anonymously completed questionnaires, a 62 percent response rate.

Findings

Plateaued officers were younger, had less police tenure and were more educated than were non‐plateaued officers. Plateaued officers also reported less favorable work outcomes and greater cynicism. The two groups of officers indicated generally similar levels of psychological health suggesting that potential negative consequences of the career plateau were limited to the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

All data collected using self‐reports raising the possibility of common method bias. Study needs to be replicated in police forces in other countries.

Practical implications

Suggestions for reducing the negative effects of the career plateau are offered.

Originality/value

The study extends research on the career plateau to police organizations
The influence of organizational socialization on police officers' acceptance of community policing
Authors: Moon Byongook
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The study aims to examine the effect of organizational socialization into police culture on officers' attitudes toward community policing in South Korea.

Design/methodology/approach

The study sampled 694 Korean police officers. Policy implication and direction for future research is discussed.

Findings

The results indicate a positive relationship between the degree of organizational socialization and police officers' attitudes toward community policing, contrary to hypothesized directions. Police officers who report higher levels of socialization into police culture are more likely to support the philosophy of community policing and line officers' autonomy/participation, and to perceive a positive relationship with citizens. The findings may indicate that police culture in Korea is fundamentally different from those of other countries, even though the Korean police share some common characteristics of police culture (i.e. machismo, isolation, or conflict with citizens) with its counterparts.

Originality/value

The study provides useful information on the effect of organizational socialization into police culture on officers' attitudes toward community policing.
Organizational commitment and perceived organizational support in the NSW police
Authors: Currie Paul , Dollery Brian
Published: January 2007

Purpose

An embryonic empirical literature on Australian policing has established that commitment levels of police officers are comparatively low. This paper seeks to add to this literature.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies Allen and Meyer's three‐component model of organizational commitment, in conjunction with the Eisenberger et al.'s model of perceived organizational support, to a sample of 351 sworn police officers and student officers.

Findings

The results seem to confirm earlier Australian findings since organizational commitment among the sample of respondents was also found to be low. It is suggested that additional skills training and tuition subsidies for officers could enhance organizational commitment.

Originality/value

The paper provides useful information on levels of commitment among Australian police officers and suggestions on how organizational commitment can be enhanced.
Following the leader: front‐line narratives on police leadership
Authors: Rowe Michael
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to consider junior officers' attitudes towards those in senior positions, and the implications that this has for current debates on improving police leadership.

Design/methodology/approach

An ethnographic study of policing underpins the article and theoretically the notion of police culture is used to consider the various ways in which frontline police officers are able to resist or circumvent reforms to which they do not subscribe.

Findings

The article finds that frontline officers place great value on being led by senior officers who have considerable direct experience of street level policework. Those officers who have rapidly climbed the promotion ladder, without “serving their time” on the streets, are regarded with some suspicion.

Research limitations/implications

Further analysis of the attitudes of junior officers towards their senior colleagues would be useful, to build on this study to consider the extent to which the attitudes identified here apply to various roles completed by senior officers.

Practical implications

The current agenda of police reform emphasises the benefits to be had from employing leaders who are from outside the British police service. While the suspicion with which such individuals are likely to be greeted by frontline staff is not, in itself, reason to reject such proposals it does indicate that efforts need to be made to bridge the “credibility gap” that seems likely to surround them. The article identifies a number of situations in which junior police officers did not accept the legitimacy of requests made by those of senior rank. It is not argued that leaders and managers were necessarily betraying ignorance of the realities of police work or that they were misguided. However, it is argued that given the continuing high levels of discretion available to police officers in terms of how they interpret their role and operationalise their diverse duties it is important for proponents of police reform to understand the cultural factors that, in part, will determine the ways in which frontline officers will respond to change.

Originality/value

The article presents valuable and original insight into a neglected aspect of debates on police leadership; namely, the perspectives of those who are “followers”. Since British policing has continued to eschew officer‐level entry, the issues raised are vitally important to those seeking to transform police leadership by introducing those from outside the service to senior positions.
Connecting work and learning: design engineers' learning at work
Authors: Collin Kaija
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to investigate design engineers' and product developers' learning through their work. The aim was to approach designers' work practice and their learning in the course of it as perceived by the designers themselves. The aim is also to examine their learning through the various individual and social processes, which take place in the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The ethnographic approach in this paper, with its use of combined and qualitative data gathering and analytical methods, was selected to approach the aim described above. Observations in two Finnish high‐tech companies and interviews with 18 designers were conducted. The observations and interviews were analysed with help of combined methods of analysis, such as phenomenographic, narrative and ethnographic analysis.

Findings

The findings in this paper suggest that in redefining designers' work and learning, four central themes are important: design practice is learning in itself; there is a close relationship between formal and practical knowledge in designers' learning at work; previous work experience plays an essential role in learning; and design practices and learning should be seen as shared, situated and contextualized.

Practical implications

In the paper general suggestions concerning the guidance of workplace learning are given, and the challenges of guiding and assessing workplace learning in the vocational education context are examined. There is a clear need for more effective integration between education and working life.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that individual and social practice and learning in the workplace should be analysed as interdependent and intertwined.
You are who I say you are: the rhetorical construction of identity in the operating theatre
Authors: Bleakley Alan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to show that narrative close call reporting is one strand of an ongoing collaborative inquiry project with 300 staff aiming to improve teamwork in operating theatres in a large UK hospital. How teams deal with close calls (“accidents waiting to happen”) reveals resourcefulness but exposes flaws, including resistance to basic safety practices such as briefing and debriefing.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper over 400 issues from close call reports over two years have been thematically analysed to map a variety of (mis)communications. This paper goes beyond this descriptive level of data analysis to a deeper level, where close calls are read textually. The most common rhetorical strategies are reported, shown in around a quarter of all reports.

Findings

The paper finds that accounts are neither transparent nor objective, but offer a medium for the exercise of rhetorical strategy, a main function of which is construction and management of identity. Practitioners maintain traditional boundaries between professions by stereotyping the “other” professional in the team, serving to stabilise identity. Work is typically presented as on the edge, close to collapse, serving to shape an identity of “heroic survivors” for team members.

Practical implications

In the paper habitual practices that impede teamwork are challenged, such as stereotyping. Reporting can encourage “fearless speech” – regardless of position on the traditional hierarchy – that is an empowering form of “plain speaking” underpinned by moral courage.

Originality/value

The paper shows that close calls are typically treated instrumentally. A deeper, aesthetic and ethical reading is offered. Education in “fearless speech” in close call reports may offer a reflexive stance and new context for identity construction.
Contextuality and cultural texts: a case study of workplace learning in call centres
Authors: Crouch Margaret
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to show the contextualisation of call centres as a work‐specific ethnographically and culturally based community, which, in turn, influences pedagogical practices through the encoding and decoding of cultural texts in relation to two logics: cost‐efficiency and customer‐orientation.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a qualitative, interpretive research‐based case study involving three Australian incoming customer service call centres and seven call centre managers.

Findings

The paper finds cultural texts with high management structure and control and low workplace socialisation and semiotic literacy favour constructions of meaning which prioritise qualitative (customer‐orientated logic) performance by a customer service representative (CSR) at early cultural junctures. This position subsequently transitions to favour the prioritisation of quantitative (cost‐efficient logic) performance as the CSR progresses. The shift occurs through a process of relayered knowledge constructs wherein a corresponding reduction in management control and structure of the texts is counter‐balanced by an increase in workplace socialisation and semiotic literacy.

Practical implications

The paper includes enriched understandings of call centre contextuality and shows that fresh perspectives on contextually influenced pedagogical practices have the potential to direct and harness more informed approaches to call centre teaching and learning, particularly in relation to the logics of cost‐efficiency and customer‐orientation.

Originality/value

A thought‐provoking paper for call centre managers and human resource learning and development professionals which foregrounds the concepts of work‐specific ethnographic community, cultural texts, encoding and decoding, socialisation and semiotic literacy as influential workplace teaching and learning conduits.
Experience, competence and workplace learning
Authors: Paloniemi Susanna
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to examine employees' conceptions of the meaning of experience in job‐competence and its development in workplace context. The aim is to bring out the variety of conceptions related to experience, competence and workplace learning.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on interview data from six Finnish small and medium sized enterprises. The data were collected as a part of a larger European Union research project, Working Life Changes and Training of Older Workers (WORKTOW) during spring 1999. The approach chosen for the analysis presented in this paper was phenomenography.

Findings

The findings in the paper show the importance accorded to experience in competence and in workplace learning. The employees valued work experience as the main source of their competence. They also developed their competence mainly through learning at work. The role of social participation in work communities and learning through experiences was emphasized.

Practical implications

The paper shows that differentiating employees' conceptions paves a way to more specific perspectives on the development and utilisation of experience‐based competence in work communities and organisations.

Originality/value

In this paper the findings are discussed in the light of construction and development of older workers' job‐competence in working life. It is argued that experience serves several kinds of purposes in workplace learning also among experienced workers.
Recognising current competencies of volunteers in emergency service organisations
Authors: Catts Ralph , Chamings Dave
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to show the relationship between organisational structure and flexibility of training has not been well researched. Focusing on the role of recognition of current competencies, this study provides evidence of the effects of the former on the latter.

Design/methodology/approach

In this paper evidence was obtained by comparing six emergency service organisations using comparative case study. Data were collected through individual and group interviews and from document searches. Organisations were categorised as organistic or mechanistic based on volunteer experiences and published organisational structures. The flexibility of curriculum, delivery of training, and recognition of current competence were assessed and compared with organisational structure.

Findings

The paper finds that mechanistic organisations had high levels of insular trust and relied on training as a means of socialising new volunteers into the norms and practices of the organisation. They required all recruits to undertake the same training and did not recognise competencies acquired outside the organisation. In contrast, those organisations with a more, organic structure, had more flexible training strategies and used holistic assessment to recognise current competencies that volunteers brought to their roles.

Research limitations/implications

The paper could be replicated in other industries to examine the generalisabilty of the findings. The implications for the wider issues of flexibility and responsiveness of some emergency service organisations could be an area for further investigation.

Practical implications

The paper shows that achieving greater flexibility in training in emergency service organisations may require organisational change in order to build trust within a work context that can involve extreme risks.

Originality/value

The paper concludes that, while it was the fire services that were the more mechanistic of the organisations included in the study, there was sufficient diversity in their structures to allow one to conclude that across these four cases the more organic the organisation, the more flexible was the approach to training. It is concluded therefore that an inflexible approach to training is not an essential feature of the fire service industry.
Learning to make changes: democratic dialogue in action
Authors: Kalliola Satu , Nakari Risto , Pesonen Ilkka
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The theoretical aim of the research in this paper is to conceptualize learning in the context of communicative action research, specifically in the context of democratic dialogue. The empirical aim is to show how and in which conditions action research projects, based on democratic dialogue, work.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper, first, a conceptual synthesis is made by combining organizational and learning approaches to action research interventions based on the principles of democratic dialogue. Second, the new frame of reference is used to make a content analysis of two public sector cases from Finland, which will be presented as chance narratives.

Findings

The paper finds that the conceptualization of action research interventions first, as development organizations, and second, as learning spaces, sharpens the empirical analysis of the impact of the interventions. The article will point out how the action research interventions enhance collaborative learning among the participants. In cases where democratic dialogue is adopted as a regulative rule, desired organizational changes are likely to happen. In these cases, democratic dialogue diffuses from development organizations to the production and bargaining organizations.

Practical implications

The paper shows that the level of the conceptualization of the research makes it relevant also in other western countries that are experiencing a transformation of the public sector towards managerialism.

Originality/value

The paper combines theories of learning and organizations in the framework of communicative action research in a way that makes explicit the role of workplace democracy. The paper gives a strong theoretical and empirical evidence of the potential of the dialogue methods in the intentional changes of working life.
VET practitioners working with private enterprises: a “third space”?
Authors: Harris Roger , Simons Michele
Published: January 2007

Purpose

This paper aims to analyse, through the lens of learning network theory, ways in which external VET practitioners work within private enterprises to promote learning within these organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on analyses of six case studies in two Australian States, each comprising a vocational education institute and an enterprise. In total, 34 interviews were held with four groups of participant – TAFE managers and practitioners, enterprise personnel and worker‐learners – from different industries.

Findings

The paper finds that the overlaying of an external learning system on existing learning systems brings inevitable tensions that need to be carefully managed. VET practitioners working in industry operate in two worlds with very different cultures. They need to learn how to work within different power structures, how to build around existing work and learning networks, and how to mesh in with the flow of enterprise work. In the process of working with company staff, and crossing boundaries, they may well be creating a “third space” in which new meanings can be, and have to be, constructed that go beyond the limits of either site.

Practical implications

The paper shows that understanding these ways of working has practical implications for VET managers and practitioners, company staff and policy‐makers in terms of how human resources are managed and how different parties work together.

Originality/value

The paper shows two objectives: a relatively new focus in the research literature and an extension of learning network theory in terms of external learning systems.
Transformative learning in joint leadership
Authors: Wilhelmson Lena
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to show what the leaders themselves regard as the working ingredients in their mutual work situation that help to facilitate personal development.

Design/methodology/approach

In the paper data were collected through semi‐structured interviews with 14 leaders at low and middle management levels in different lines of business within the private and public sector. The analysis of the learning processes draws on the theory of transformative learning.

Findings

The paper revealed that joint leadership, according to the leaders, could provide the leaders themselves with a basis of personal development and learning. This depends on common core values, a supportive relationship and common work processes as well as complementarity, joint sense making and critical reflection.

Research limitations/implications

The implies that joint leadership provides possibilities of transformative learning through examination of different points of view, through explicitly talking about habits of mind, and through stepwise changes of existing frames of reference. The results indicate that joint leadership offers the possibility of a deepened learning process in daily work in a communicative relationship where profound values and ways of acting are openly shared and critically‐reflected upon. Joint leadership should however not be forced on to managers.

Originality/value

The paper provides insights into learning processes for leaders, based on the possibilities, which can be created through joint leadership.
Upward feedback and its contribution to employees' feeling of self‐determination
Authors: Bauer Johannes , Mulder Regina H.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The paper seeks to show that self‐determination is a widely regarded motivational variable in educational research that relates to intrinsically motivated, self‐directed learning at work. This study aimed to find out whether the possibility to provide upward feedback to supervisors contributes to employees' feelings of self‐determination. This should only be the case if the subordinates perceive the possibility to provide feedback as a serious possibility of influence and improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper finds that in a cross‐sectional case study, 76 employees from a high‐tech industry enterprise were surveyed for their perception of upward feedback and their feeling of self‐determination by questionnaire. Self‐determination was measured by the support of the intrinsic needs of autonomy, competence and social relatedness at the workplace.

Findings

The paper finds that, as expected, the perceived quality of the upward feedback is related positively to self‐determination. Employees who perceive the upward feedback as a chance for improving their working conditions also perceive more support of autonomy, competence and social relatedness at their workplace.

Research limitations/implications

In the paper the correlative design allows no conclusions about the direction of causality between the perceived quality of the upward feedback and self‐determination. Further, due to the design the results are limited to the specific field.

Originality/value

The paper delivers a new aspect of the role of feedback for learning in organisations by casting light on beneficial effects for the provider of the feedback, not the receiver. It emphasises the role of empowerment and participation for establishing an organisational climate that fosters motivation and learning, and shows the possible contribution of upward feedback in this process.
From university to working life: mentoring as a pedagogical challenge
Authors: Saarnivaara Marjatta , Sarja Anneli
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to scrutinize the transition from university to working life through different theoretical approaches. Inspired by Barnett the paper also asks: What is it to learn for an unknown future? According to Bartlett neither knowledge nor skills are sufficient to enable success in the contemporary world. What is needed are certain kinds of human qualities and dispositions. The paper seeks to introduce two examples that help us to analyse the phenomenon from the perspectives of higher education and working life.

Design/methodology/approach

The data consists of an interview on pedagogical practices in actor training and of group mentoring discussions in a teacher community.

Findings

Based on the observations, the educational process itself with its disturbing factors, the transition to working life, and finding one's place in it are all sites that provide their own challenges for an unknown future. The contradiction between security and the unknown inscribed in them produces uncertainty. Furthermore, the paper maintains that self‐challenge is one of the dispositions needed for living with uncertainty.

Originality/value

Dialogic mentoring is a tool by which the problems and contradictions raised by daily practices can be challenged. Some of these contradictions may have their roots in unsolved challenges during education, and then have to be shouldered by the work community. The concept of dialogic mentoring is a fruitful pedagogical tool in preventing and reducing work‐based stress and exhaustion experienced by newcomers in work communities.
Work time and learning activities of the continuously employed
Authors: Livingstone David , Stowe Susan
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the paid and unpaid work time and learning activities of a small longitudinal sample (n=286) of continuously employed Canadians over the 1998‐2004 period.

Design/methodology/approach

A sub‐sample of those who responded to two national surveys carried out in 1998 and 2004 and who were continuously employed throughout this period was selected. In addition to a quantitative analysis of their responses to both surveys, a qualitative analysis of open‐ended interviews in 2000 with many of the same respondents offers further insight into orientations to engagement in formal (course‐based) and informal learning.

Findings

Those who are not taking adult education courses are still very likely to participate continually in job‐related informal learning. There is some indication that continuing lack of participation in courses may be associated with declining participation in job‐related informal learning. The in‐depth interviews suggest that most continuously employed respondents see course‐based education and informal learning as complementary.

Originality/value

The lack of prior longitudinal population studies means that understanding of continuity and change in work and learning relations has been based on inferences from cross‐sectional surveys. There are few recent longitudinal surveys of work and learning and none that incorporate both unpaid work and informal learning as well as paid work and adult education course participation. This study provides some elementary benchmarks for further diachronic research on work time and learning relations.
Explication: working to discover and share new knowledge from prior experience
Authors: Franklin Peter
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop the sustained argument that explication can contribute to the emergence and development of the philosopher‐manager who is appropriately sceptical of generalisations, and confident in their own abilities to develop local, valid and meaningful theories based on their wisdom and personal experience.

Design/methodology/approach

The idea and practice of explication as a source of (new) meaning and knowledge in a contested postmodern world is the main focus of this paper. Within the postmodern discourse which informs and shapes the paper, particular attention is given to the problematics of autobiography, fiction and “truth”, and the undecidability of meaning.

Findings

Explication offers managers the prospect of “new” explicit knowledge and skills based on their prior experience and, more importantly perhaps, explication helps people to develop a honed philosophical mindset which can recognise and deal with the empty arguments, flawed recipes and fictions that often characterise traditional management theory.

Research limitations/implications

Future empirical research on the ways that explication is described and practised, is urgent and vital. This will yield interesting and valuable insights for those who practice explication, and for those who design and implement OD solutions including the corporate university.

Practical implications

The paper outlines the handful of related activities which make up the explication process.

Originality/value

This paper locates the idea of explication within a postmodern discourse. The paper benefits from previous work by the author which encourages managers to exploit their experiential learning so as to create and to share their own theories rather than rely on the dictums of others.
Mobilizing organizations for innovation and value creation: an integrated model of the mobile company
Authors: Voelpel Sven C. , von Pierer Heinrich , Streb Christoph K.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The purpose of the article is to provide managers and academics alike with valuable insights into how global organizations are able to manage innovation by the organization‐wide mobilization of knowledge resources.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper is the result of an eight‐year in‐depth theoretical and practical research process mainly undertaken within Siemens AG, and is based on a total of 68 expert interviews conducted with distinguished experts in related fields. Consisting of three phases, the research stretched from analyzing the interrelation of mobility and innovation and deducing case studies towards the development of an integrated model of a mobile company.

Findings

In order to leverage on innovation as one of the most important sources of competitiveness and business success, organizations have to abandon outdated organizational models and engage into mobilizing their knowledge resources.

Originality/value

The results of this in‐depth work can be applied to the reality of a global business, networked across organizations, people, borders and cultures. By providing proof of the impact of people and business processes' mobility on knowledge creation, this article shows how to mobilize organizations for innovation and, consequently, value creation by suggesting an advanced organizational model called the “MOBILE company”.
Where is the knowledge we have lost in managers?
Authors: Girard John P.
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to theorize what relationship exists between knowledge loss and the manager type. Specifically, the purpose of this research is to determine if some types of middle managers report lower levels of information anxiety. A manager's knowledge classification was based on the seminal research of Davenport and Prusak, and Nonaka and Takeuchi.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of Canadian Public Service middle managers completed an online survey instrument over a three‐month period in the autumn of 2003. Ninety‐nine usable survey results formed the basis of analysis for the project. To increase how one may generalize the findings, the sample was compared to a recent large random sample of the same population, which determined that the two samples were statistically the same. Segmenting the managers by knowledge transformation tasks (based on Davenport and Prusak) and knowledge exchange methods (based on Nonaka and Takeuchi) permitted the development of two hypotheses based on the dependent variable of information anxiety.

Findings

An empirical examination revealed that most of the sample reported relatively low levels of information anxiety. The type of tasks performed by the respondents was not a major factor; however, there was a significant negative relationship between frequency of task and information anxiety. The discovery of a weak positive relationship between tacit knowledge use and information anxiety provides the promise of exciting future research opportunities.

Originality/value

This pioneering research is the first project to consider the relationship between information anxiety and type of middle manager through the lens of knowledge transformation tasks and knowledge exchange methods.
Efficiencies from knowledge management technologies in a military enterprise
Authors: Schulte William D. , Sample Travis
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The debate about the differences between government, commercial and military knowledge management initiatives continues. Many consultants and vendors posit that the different objectives of government, military and commercial organizations require different philosophies, methodologies and technologies to achieve success. Many agree that technology is not the most important element of knowledge integration. However, they also agree that knowledge management technologies can enable knowledge integration and contribute to efficiencies in organizations. This study provides empirical research to contribute to this theoretical and practical discussion.

Design/methodology/approach

This study explores the perceived differences of the impact of knowledge management technologies between commercial, military and government users. Analysis of variance is used to compare means of responses among the three groups. This study applies hypothesis testing through a case study of an enterprise in the military sector, the United States Department of the Navy's (DON) Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR).

Findings

The primary conclusion of this study is that there is a significant difference in expectations among contractors, government civilian and uniform military knowledge workers on expected efficiencies from KMTs. Contractors and uniform military have similar expectations. Government civilians have significantly lower expectations. Contractors have the highest expectations from KMTs.

Research limitations/implications

There are a few studies that compare government and commercial sector knowledge management expectations and practices. In addition, case studies and anecdotal data provided by vendors and consultants communicate the value of knowledge management technologies. Still there is a need to grow the body of knowledge on the impact of KMTs on efficiency. To that end there is a growing commitment to empirical and conceptual research by scholars in knowledge management.

Practical implications

Implications for scholars and practitioners are posited.

Originality/value

There is still a lack of empirical research on the impact of knowledge management technologies on competitive advantage in government organizations. This study adds to understanding of this area of research.
A conceptual integration of performance analysis, knowledge management, and technology: from concept to prototype
Authors: Sasson Joseph R. , Douglas Ian
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The current paper seeks to describe a conceptual integration of the fields of performance analysis, knowledge management (KM), and technology to create a net‐centric knowledge management system (KMS).

Design/methodology/approach

The design methodology incorporates an interdisciplinary approach and the involvement of various government agencies that provides a basis for creating a process‐centered KMS.

Findings

Three prototypes that integrate the aforementioned fields have been created and demonstrate the viability and value of this type of KMS.

Originality/value

The authors know of no other system that is as integrative, interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and effective at taking a process‐centered view of KM. This paper provides an example of how such a system can be built and implemented to meet KM needs in a complex environment with knowledge accessibility challenges.
Survey of knowledge management practices in Indian manufacturing industries
Authors: Singh  , Shankar Ravi , Narain Rakesh , Kumar Adish
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Knowledge management (KM) involves strategies and processes of identifying, capturing, and leveraging knowledge to enhance competitiveness. The new world of knowledge‐based organizations is distinguished from the organizations of the last millennium by its emphasis on monitoring and controlling the organization by shared knowledge derived from internal and external data sources. It believes in continual transformation of the knowledge‐base according to changing business strategy. The objective of this paper is to understand the KM practices in Indian manufacturing organisations, which are going through a major transition in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reports the findings of a postal survey carried out to access the impact of KM practices in Indian manufacturing industries. Data were collected and analysed for 71 industries under this category.

Findings

The results indicate that the main reasons why these organisations are focusing on KM are gaining completive advantage and creating new knowledge. However, culture and financial constraints are amongst the highest ranked barrier for KM implementation.

Originality/value

There have been major changes in the Indian engineering industry in terms of better awareness and adoption of KM practices. The paper addresses many related issues in this direction.
Brand excellence: measuring the impact of advertising and brand personality on buying decisions
Authors: Rajagopal
Published: January 2007

Purpose

The identity of brand, from the perspective of consumers, is the foundation of a good brand‐building program. Effective brand management encompassing brand personality is of paramount importance in reaching the overall company goals of satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability. Advertising effectiveness can be measured by brand and advertising evaluations. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the strategies of effective brand building and managing the same with reference to acquiring optimum customer value for long‐run competitive gains.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper reviews the literature on the brand building and develops arguments in reference to symbiotic relationship of brands with cognitive behavior of consumers. The discussion in the paper is categorically spread over brand equity, brand personality, media impact on brands and brand knowledge. This paper also discusses the process that builds brand personality through media communication.

Findings

There are many psychographic variables like emotions associated with the brand image which constitute the personality of a brand. In case typical product category advertisements are associated with negative affect, the particular advertising functions act as a counter‐attitudinal message, which is more persuasive in the case of a mismatch rather than a match with the category advertisements. However, a persuasive advertising may affect consumer preferences. It will be of critical importance for future researchers and practitioners to understand the increasingly complex variety of factors underlying and influencing the linkages between brands and customer relationship.

Practical implications

Effective brand management, encompassing brand personality, is of paramount importance in reaching the overall company goals towards satisfaction, loyalty, and profitability. Companies may choose to deliver advertising in a more appealing dimension for quick cognitive reflexes of customers.

Originality/value

This paper argues the importance of the brand building and management issues from the perspective of consumers' cognitive variable for a sustainable effect rather than developing a framework of strategies considering company as a pivot. The paper explores and attempts to establish the symbiosis between the cognitive drivers of consumers and brand personality.
Performance measurements in the implementation of information systems in small and medium‐sized enterprises: a framework and empirical analysis
Authors: Sharma Milind Kumar , Bhagwat Rajat
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Performance measurement in the implementation of information systems is under‐developed for, under‐researched in, small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). This article aims to develop a framework for IS that measures and evaluates IS performance from the following six perspectives: operational efficiency of the IS function, down time of IS, responsiveness of IS, timeliness of information, accuracy of information, overall competitive position.

Design/methodology/approach

This research is exploratory in nature, a survey methodology is used for study and the focus of study is cross‐sectional. The objective of the study was to become more familiar through survey and information collected at one point in time. The methodology was based on a questionnaire survey and personal interviews.

Findings

Empirical analysis from 147 Indian SMEs suggests that IS performance measurement framework can be the foundation for SMEs' strategic growth in the era of globalization. These findings provide SMEs the opportunity to compare their IS performance against other firms of similar size.

Research limitations/implications

The target of the study is the SMEs operational in the western part of India and hence it has the limitation in terms of the scope. However, the overall results are encouraging with 70 percent response rate in the survey and underline the need for more such studies. The results have implications for all managers responsible for IS, in any SME in the era of globalization.

Originality/value

The paper presents a framework for IS performance measurement for SMEs. Findings reported in the paper provide SMEs the utility of IS‐related practices and its performance measurement in day‐to‐day business operations.
A framework for evaluating the criticality of software metrics: an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) approach
Authors: Sureshchandar G.S. , Leisten Rainer
Published: January 2007

Purpose

Unless the key measures are identified and managed, the entire concept of measurement would end up making one step forward and two steps sideways. The key is to identify those measures that add value to the measurement approach per se. The present work is yet another contribution to further augment the purpose and spirit of the concept of measurement.

Design/methodology/approach

The present research work strives to critically examine the relative importance of software metrics from the standpoint of their utility towards improving business performance. It illustrates how an absolute AHP framework can be formulated for the same.

Findings

Criteria with respect to product, process and resource categories have been identified and decision alternatives have been explored in order to devise boundary conditions for classifying software metrics as critical, essential and redundant (CER).

Practical implications

The new industrial era models and analogies are adequate to meet the rigours of the ever‐changing IT world. But, from the measurement and metrics perspective, it has long been a problem of plenty. The current study provides a methodology to streamline the cornucopia of measures into a consolidated definite set of metrics that are more meaningful and useful with respect to the set objectives.

Originality/value

The lineage of measurement thinking is unswervingly attributing to a paradigm shift in the way metrics are evaluated and value creation is perceived and this has resulted in an approach that is more and more compatible with the Pareto principle. The current work adds fuel to such a thought.