bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Viticulture Zoning by an Experimental WSN
Authors: Mariño P. , Fontán F.P. , Domínguez M.A. , Otero S.
Published: February 2011

Biological research in agriculture needs a lot of specialized electronic sensors in order to fulfill different goals, like as: climate monitoring, soil and fruit assessment, control of insects and diseases, chemical pollutants, identification and control of weeds, crop tracking, and so on. That research must be supported by consistent biological models able to simulate diverse environmental conditions, in order to predict the right human actions before risky biological damage could be irreversible. In this paper an experimental distributed network based on climatic and biological wireless sensors is described, for providing real measurements in order to validate different biological models used for viticulture applications. Firstly is introduced the rationale of zoning in Galicia’s territory. Then the experimental network for field automatic data acquisition is presented. Following, the design of the wireless network is explained in detail. Finally future developments and conclusions are stated.
Multi-Agent Based Dynamic E-Learning Environment
Authors: AlZahrani Saleh , Ayesh Aladdin , Zedan Hussein
Published: February 2011

Grids are increasingly being used in applications, one of which is e-learning. As most of business and academic institutions (universities) and training centres around the world have adopted this technology in order to create, deliver and manage their learning materials through the Web, the subject has become the focus of investigate. Still, collaboration between these institutions and centres is limited. Existing technologies such as grid, Web services and agents are promising better results. In this article the authors support building our architecture Regionally Distributed Architecture for Dynamic e-Learning Environment (RDADeLE) by combining those technologies via Java Agent Development Framework (JADE). By describing these agents in details, they prove that agents can be implemented to work well to extend the autonomy and interoperability for learning objects as data grid.
Analysis of Quality of Service Routing Algorithms
Authors: Prakash Raj E.George Dharma , JanitaPrakash Sinthu , Raja S.V.Kasmir
Published: February 2011

The routing problems can be divided into two major classes. They are 1) Unicast routing and 2) Multicast routing. The Unicast routing problem is as follows. Given a source node sr, a destination node dn, a set of QoS constraints qc and an optimization goal (optional), find the best feasible path from sr to dn, which satisfies qc. The Multicast routing problem is as follows. Given a source node sr, a set st of destination nodes, a set of constraints cts and an optimization goal (optional), find the best feasible path covering sr and all nodes in st, which satisfies cts. This article presents two such Unicast QoS based algorithms called as Source Routing and the proposed Heuristic Routing. A Client Server based model has been generated to study the performance of the two algorithms with respect to the message overhead, response time and path delay. The Experiments and the results are analyzed.
Finer Garbage Collection in Lindacap
Authors: Udzir Nur Izura , Ibrahim Hamidah , Demesie Sileshi
Published: February 2011

As open systems persist, garbage collection (GC) can be a vital aspect in managing system resources. Although garbage collection has been proposed for the standard Linda, it was a rather course-grained mechanism. This finer-grained method is offered in Lindacap, a capability-based coordination system for open distributed systems. Multicapabilities in Lindacap enable tuples to be uniquely referenced, thus providing sufficient information on the usability of tuples (data) within the tuple-space. This paper describes the garbage collection mechanism deployed in Lindacap, which involves selectively garbage collecting tuples within tuple-spaces. The authors present the approach using reference counting, followed by the tracing (mark-and-sweep) algorithm to garbage collect cyclic structures. A time-to-idle (TTI) technique is also proposed, which allows for garbage collection of multicapability regions that are being referred to by agents but are not used in a specified length of time. The performance results indicate that the incorporation of garbage collection techniques adds little overhead to the overall performance of the system. The difference between the average overhead caused by the mark-and-sweep and reference counting is small, and can be considered insignificant if the benefits brought by the mark-and-sweep is taken into account.
Quality of Service for Multimedia and Real-Time Services
Authors: Albalas F. W. , Abu-Alhaija B. A. , Awajan A. , Awajan A. , Al-Begain Khalid
Published: February 2011

New web technologies have encouraged the deployment of various network applications that are rich with multimedia and real-time services. These services demand stringent requirements are defined through Quality of Service (QoS) parameters such as delay, jitter, loss, etc. To guarantee the delivery of these services QoS routing algorithms that deal with multiple metrics are needed. Unfortunately, QoS routing with multiple metrics is considered an NP-complete problem that cannot be solved by a simple algorithm. This paper proposes three source based QoS routing algorithms that find the optimal path from the service provider to the user that best satisfies the QoS requirements for a particular service. The three algorithms use the same filtering technique to prune all the paths that do not meet the requirements which solves the complexity of NP-complete problem. Next, each of the three algorithms integrates a different Multiple Criteria Decision Making method to select one of the paths that have resulted from the route filtering technique. The three decision making methods used are the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), and Kepner-Tregoe KT. Results show that the algorithms find a path using multiple constraints with a high ability to handle multimedia and real-time applications.
Incorporating Network Topology Improves Prediction of Protein Interaction Networks from Transcriptomic Data
Authors: Larsen Peter E. , Collart Frank , Dai Yang
Published: February 2011

The reconstruction of protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks from high-throughput experimental data is one of the most challenging problems in bioinformatics. These biological networks have specific topologies defined by the functional and evolutionary relationships between the proteins and the physical limitations imposed on proteins interacting in the three-dimensional space. In this paper, the authors propose a novel approach for the identification of potential protein-protein interactions based on the integration of known PPI network topology and transcriptomic data. The proposed method, Function Restricted Value Neighborhood (FRV-N), was used to reconstruct PPI networks using an experimental data set consisting of 170 yeast microarray profiles. The results of this analysis demonstrate that incorporating knowledge of interactome topology improves the ability of transcriptome analysis to reconstruct interaction networks with a high degree of biological relevance.
Mining Frequent Boolean Expressions
Authors: Zaki Mohammed J. , Ramakrishnan Naren , Zhao Lizhuang
Published: February 2011

Regulatory network analysis and other bioinformatics tasks require the ability to induce and represent arbitrary boolean expressions from data sources. In this paper, the authors introduce a novel framework called BLOSOM for mining (frequent) boolean expressions over binary-valued datasets. Boolean expressions can be grouped into four categories: pure conjunctions, pure disjunctions, conjunction of disjunctions, and disjunction of conjunctions. The authors’ main focus is on mining the simplest expressions (the minimal generators), but also to propose closure operators that yield closed (or unique maximal) boolean expressions. BLOSOM efficiently mines frequent boolean expressions by utilizing a number of methodical pruning techniques. Experiments showcase the behavior of BLOSOM for different input settings and parameter thresholds. Application studies on gene expression and gene regulation patterns showcase the effectiveness of this approach.
Revealing the Origin and Nature of Drug Resistance of Dynamic Tumour Systems
Authors: Santiago-Mozos Ricardo , Khan Imtiaz A. , Madden Michael G.
Published: February 2011

In this paper, the authors identify the strategies that resistant subpopulations of cancer cells undertake to overcome the effect of the anticancer drug Topotecan. For the analyses of cell lineage data encoded from timelapse microscopy, data mining tools are chosen that generate interpretable models of the data, addressing their statistical significance. By interpreting the short-term and long-term cytotoxic effect of Topotecan through these data models, the authors reveal the strategies that resistant subpopulations of cells undertake to maximize their clonal expansion potential. In this context, this paper identifies a pattern of cell death independent of cytotoxic effect. Finally, it is observed that cells exposed to Topotecan have higher movement over time, indicating a putative relationship between cytotoxic effect and cell motility.
Efficient Mining Frequent Closed Discriminative Biclusters by Sample-Growth
Authors: Wang Miao , Shang Xuequn , Zhang Shaohua , Li Zhanhuai
Published: February 2011

DNA microarray technology has generated a large number of gene expression data. Biclustering is a methodology allowing for condition set and gene set points clustering simultaneously. It finds clusters of genes possessing similar characteristics together with biological conditions creating these similarities. Almost all the current biclustering algorithms find bicluster in one microarray dataset. In order to reduce the noise influence and find more biological biclusters, the authors propose the FDCluster algorithm in order to mine frequent closed discriminative bicluster in multiple microarray datasets. FDCluster uses Apriori property and several novel techniques for pruning to mine biclusters efficiently. To increase the space usage, FDCluster also utilizes several techniques to generate frequent closed bicluster without candidate maintenance in memory. The experimental results show that FDCluster is more effective than traditional methods in either single micorarray dataset or multiple microarray datasets. This paper tests the biological significance using GO to show the proposed method is able to produce biologically relevant biclusters.
Continuum of Context Explication
Authors: Smolnik Stefan , Kremer Stefan , Kolbe Lutz
Published: February 2011

For a company to be consistently oriented toward its customers and their processes, it needs to customize its intra-corporate processes and systems. Customer process-oriented portals that integrate companies’ systems and provide transparent access to information objects stored in these systems seem to offer a solution. However, one key problem is finding relevant information objects in systems that are not only growing, but also being disseminated. There is the additional challenge of making knowledge available at the right time and the right place. Companies’ competitive advantage is rooted in this knowledge advantage as well as in the capability to transform this superior knowledge into market-driven business processes. The research questions addressed in this article are how the value of information objects is affected by the context in which it is considered, and how associated contexts can be uncovered for given situations. We introduce a continuum of context explication comprised of the relationships between data, information objects, and knowledge, and their contexts, according to their degree and ease of context explication. The extremes of the continuum would therefore be data with no context to explicate and knowledge with rich, person-specific context. We conclude that discovering implicit meanings and expressing those meanings explicitly increases the potential value of information objects. In addition, we evaluate the full-text search, attribute-based search, and topic maps as approaches for knowledge discovery through customer process-oriented portals as well as providing patterns that indicate when to apply which approach. Two small case studies of knowledge discovery through such portals are presented. We conclude with suggestions for future research based on our final deductions in respect of the study.
The Emerging Discipline of Knowledge Management
Authors: Schwartz David G.
Published: February 2011

This article presents some of the findings from the editorial process of creating an Encyclopedia of Knowledge Management. The global view of knowledge management (KM) research made available by this process provides interesting insights into the state of knowledge management research today and raises some questions regarding future directions for knowledge management as a discipline. The popularity and interaction between the different foundations of KM research is discussed, and specific attention is given to the discipline of social epistemology as a frame of reference for knowledge management research.
A Qualitative Study of the Characteristics of a Community of Practice for Knowledge Management and Its Success Factors
Authors: Stein Eric W.
Published: February 2011

A Community of Practice (CoP) is an organizational form receiving increasing attention as a structure for sense making, knowledge management and learning. The central question addressed in this article is how and why these communities form and grow over time. These questions are explored through a qualitative analysis of a CoP formed to help knowledge management practitioners. In this case study, a description of how the organization formed, survived, grew and matured over a five-year period (1999-2004) is given. Several practices and structures related to CoP development are identified; for example, operations, roles and responsibilities, communications, sub-group structures, use of information technologies and other aspects of organizing. Using data from several sources (e.g., membership surveys, interviews with key informants, document analysis), four sets of factors that have helped this organization succeed are identified: Individual, Content, Meeting and Organizational. These factors are arranged into a preliminary descriptive model of the function and structure of CoPs over the life cycle. To practitioners, the work sheds light on how to set up and successfully grow a community of practice.
A Critical Decision Interview Approach to Capturing Tacit Knowledge
Authors: Taylor Hazel
Published: February 2011

Interest in the capture of tacit knowledge within organizations has risen in recent years. However, while the capture of explicit knowledge is relatively straightforward, methods for eliciting tacit knowledge are less well developed. This paper describes how the critical decision interview method can assist expert respondents to articulate tacit knowledge by probing beyond their espoused theories about their actions to reveal their practice. Tacit knowledge can then be identified by contrasting respondents’ practice with theoretical prescriptions for “best practice” in the field. The application of the method in an investigation of risk management in IT projects is described, and the effectiveness of this method for surfacing tacit knowledge is discussed.
Getting Knowledge Management Right
Authors: Chan Ivy , Chau Patrick Y.K.
Published: February 2011

Knowledge is increasingly recognized to provide a foundation for creating core competences and competitive advantages for organizations, making effective knowledge management (KM) crucial and significant. Despite evolving perspectives and rigorous endeavors to embrace KM intentions in business agendas, organizations cannot always realize expected benefits and improve their performances. This paper reports a case study of an organization in Hong Kong that shares typical characteristics with other organizations with strong awareness and expectations of KM, yet experienced failure of its program in two years. Our findings showed that KM activities carried out in the organization were fragmented and not supported by members. Based on this failure case, four lessons learned are identified for improving KM performance.
Knowledge Acquisitions and Transfer in Egyptian Software Firms
Authors: Seleim Ahmed A.S. , Ashour Ahmed S. , Khalil Omar E.M.
Published: February 2011

This investigation explored knowledge acquisition and transfer practice in the Egyptian software firms. It used a combination of a cross-sectional field survey of 38 firms and an in-depth qualitative analysis of 14 firms. Although most of the firms in the sample recognized the importance of knowledge, their idiosyncrasies appeared to affect the way knowledge is acquired and transferred. The firms were found to have a limited use of their software developers’ initiatives, R&D, and the academic and research institutions as sources for knowledge acquisition. They were also found to have limited capabilities in transferring and sharing knowledge. The Egyptian culture is rich in the social and emotional capital, which can play an important role in building relationships, facilitating the exchange of knowledge, and sharing of experience. Egyptian software firms should develop and implement KM strategies that attract expert software developers, capitalize on trust and social relationships, and build IT-based KM systems in order to enable knowledge acquisition and transfer.
The Role of Informal Groups in Organisational Knowledge Work
Authors: Koeglreiter Gerlinde , Smith Ross , Torlina Luba
Published: February 2011

Research has focused on formal and informal groups playing a significant role in organisational knowledge sharing. The concept of the Community of Practice (CoP) has emerged as one such form and has attracted the attention of researchers. This paper reports the initial stages of an ongoing study of an emerging CoP. Specifically, we report the initial stage of a longer-term action research study, investigating how individuals within an informal group in a knowledge intensive organisation perceive themselves, including whether they display the characteristics commonly attributed to a CoP (Wenger, 1998) and how their shared practice might be related to knowledge work. Furthermore, reflecting upon the results reported we capture, in a model, how an emerging CoP might contribute to Knowledge Management (KM) in a knowledge intensive organisation, linking top-down and bottom-up KM strategies.
Integrating Knowledge Management with Programme Management
Authors: Owen Jill
Published: February 2011

Knowledge reuse has long been an issue for organisations. The management, reuse and transfer of knowledge can improve project management capabilities (i.e., learning, memory, cycle time) resulting in continuous learning. Although knowledge management has been recognised as a critical success factor in programme management very little research has been conducted to date (Lycett, Rassau, & Danson, 2004; Soderlund, 2004). A framework is discussed that demonstrates how knowledge is created, transferred, captured and reused within project and programme management, resulting in improved project management maturity. The framework utilises a task based approach to knowledge management and assumes that knowledge is created, transferred and reused as a result of an individual performing a specific task, which in this context is a project at the project level and a programme at the programme level.
Comparing Cultural and Political Perspectives of Data, Information, and Knowledge Sharing in Organisations
Authors: Hart Dennis , Warne Leoni
Published: February 2011

This paper raises issues concerning data, information, and knowledge sharing in organisations and, in particular, compares an organisational cultural analysis of why such sharing is often difficult to achieve with an organisational political one. The issues raised are often insufficiently attended to by practitioners who are attempting to build technological information and knowledge management systems. The driver for the paper is that despite impressive advances in technology and its now almost ubiquitous presence in organisations, as well as academic study over several decades, many of the benefits originally expected concerning improved data, information, and knowledge sharing have not materialised as expected. Basic reasons for this lie in the lack of attention to the cultural foundations of organisations and because matters relating to organisational power and political matters are often misunderstood, overlooked, or ignored. These different perspectives are discussed and contrasted in order to tease out the important differences between them and assess the prospects for a synthesis. It is concluded that while there are important commonalities between the two perspectives there are also fundamental differences, notably regarding what are causes and what are effects and, therefore, how to go about effecting change regarding data, information, and knowledge sharing.
KAFRA
Authors: Okunoye Adekunle , Bertaux Nancy
Published: February 2011

Multiple case studies in India, The Gambia, and Nigeria are the background for an empirically grounded framework of knowledge management (KM). Cultural diversity and gaps in the provision of infrastructure make managing knowledge challenging but necessary in developing countries. These cultural and infrastructural issues are also related to governmental, educational, political, social, and economic factors. These environmental factors interact with organizational variables and information technology to enable or constrain knowledge management processes in the creation and protection of knowledge resources. The framework can help organizations to prepare their KM projects, to reveal problems during the project, and to assess its outcomes.
Think Social Capital Before You Think Knowledge Transfer
Authors: Sherif Karma , Sherif Sherif Ahmed
Published: February 2011

Knowledge transfer has been promoted as a critical and necessary condition in order for organizations to sustain competitive advantage. In this article, we argue that successful transfer of knowledge within organizations will depend on the accumulated social capital embedded within organizational social networks. We pose social capital as a critical factor for knowledge transfer and hypothesize that the structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital must be developed within an organization in order for knowledge transfer to impact organizational performance. The study uses data collected from Egypt to test the model. Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Model is used to explain how cultural attributes limit the accumulation of social capital and the effectiveness of knowledge transfer in developing countries.
Knowledge Management Systems for Emergency Preparedness
Authors: Raman Murali , Ryan Terry , Olfman Lorne
Published: February 2011

This article is about the design and implementation of an information system, using Wiki technology to improve the emergency preparedness efforts of the Claremont University Consortium. For some organizations, as in this case, responding to a crisis situation is done within a consortium environment. Managing knowledge across the various entities involved in such efforts is critical. This includes having the right set of information that is timely and relevant and that is governed by an effective communication process. This study suggests that Wiki technology might be useful to support knowledge management in the context of emergency preparedness within organizations. However, issues such as training in the use of a system(s), a knowledge-sharing culture among entities involved in emergency preparedness, and a fit between task and technology/system must be there in order to support emergency preparedness activities that are given such structures.
Social Capital and Knowledge Sharing in Knowledge-Based Organizations
Authors: Yue Wah Chay , Menkhoff Thomas , Loh Benjamin , Evers Hans-Dieter
Published: February 2011

The study aims to understand the social and organizational factors that influence knowledge sharing. A model of knowledge management and knowledge sharing was developed inspired by the work of Nahapiet and Ghoshal. Data on KM processes and various social capital measures were collected from a sample of 262 members of a tertiary educational institution in Singapore. Rewards and incentives, open-mindedness, and cost-benefit concerns of knowledge hoarding turned out to be the strongest predictors of knowledge sharing rather than prosocial motives or organizational care. Individuals who are highly competent in their work abilities are less likely to share what they know when they perceive that there are few rewards or when sharing is not recognized by the organization. The findings provide evidence for the importance of social capital as a lubricant of knowledge sharing and engaging performance management systems in knowledge-intensive organizations.
An Empirical Assessment of the Performance Impacts of IS Support for Knowledge Transfer
Authors: Zhang Michael J.
Published: February 2011

While a great deal has been written about how information systems (IS) can be deployed to facilitate knowledge transfer (a key knowledge management process) for performance improvements, there is little empirical evidence suggesting firms can actually derive economic returns from using IS to support knowledge transfer. This study attempted to assess the impacts of IS support for knowledge transfer on labor productivity and profitability with both survey and archival data. The potential moderating effects of firm-specific, complementary organizational resources on the performance impacts of IS support for knowledge transfer was also examined and tested. The results showed that IS support for knowledge transfer had a positive direct effect on labor productivity. Coupled with certain firm-specific, complementary organizational resources, IS support for knowledge transfer exerted a positive effect on profitability.
Knowledge Chain Activity Classes
Authors: Holsapple Clyde W. , Jones Kiku G.
Published: February 2011

Just as Porter’s value chain model identifies classes of business activity that can be performed in ways that contribute to a firm’s competitiveness, the knowledge chain model contends there are classes of knowledge management (KM) activity that can be performed in ways that enhance firm competitiveness. These KM activities pervade the value chain, being inherent in the implementation of each value chain activity. Derived from a collaboratively engineered ontology of knowledge management, the knowledge chain model is supported by anecdotal evidence and a survey has found support for the propositions that its activity classes are linked to enhanced productivity, agility, innovation, and reputation. Here, we present a study of leaders of KM initiatives that examines each of the nine knowledge chain classes in terms of its competitive impact and the extent to which its positive impact on competitiveness is associated with the importance of technology in performing activities within that class. The study provides confirming evidence that each of the knowledge chain activity classes can be performed in ways that contribute to competitiveness. Moreover, we find that for five of the activity classes there is a significant positive correlation between impact on competitiveness and the importance of computer-based technology in implementing the class’s activities.
A Comparison and Scenario Analysis of Leading Data Mining Software
Authors: Wang John , Hu Xiaohua , Hollister Kimberly , Zhu Dan
Published: February 2011

Finding the right software is often hindered by different criteria as well as by technology changes. We performed an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis using Expert Choice to determine which data mining package was best suitable for us. Deliberating a dozen alternatives and objectives led us to a series of pair-wise comparisons. When further synthesizing the results, Expert Choice helped us provide a clear rationale for the decision. The issue is that data mining technology is changing very rapidly. Our article focused only on the major suppliers typically available in the market place. The method and the process that we have used can be easily applied to analyze and compare other data mining software or knowledge management initiatives.
Knowledge Transfer
Authors: Herschel Richard T. , Yermish Ira
Published: February 2011

Knowledge transfer has been an important issue for organizational knowledge management programs. This article reviews the plethora of user-generated video activity and the issues it creates for knowledge management activities. Video’s media richness combined with its ability to convey rich narratives can facilitate sensemaking and learning. However, structure and culture are important factors that must be considered in story telling activities to increase the opportunity for effective sensemaking and message retention. Evidence and arguments are presented that should motivate organizations and academics to review video generation activities both internal and external to the organization. Issues concerning video content delivery, liability, spam, and search engine capabilities are discussed. Opportunities for new research inquiries are identified.
Risk Management
Authors: Zyngier Suzanne
Published: February 2011

This article develops an argument for and provides case study evidence to demonstrate that knowledge management (KM) governance is a mechanism that strengthens the development and implementation of KM strategies. It achieves this through locating and formalizing risk management as a function of governance, establishing reporting structures and mechanisms to ensure feedback into the ongoing development of organizational KM. We conclude that the operationalization of KM governance formalizes, locates and authorizes risk management as a structured response to the resolution of the cultural and structural risks and obstacles to KM strategy, and that it achieves this through developed capacity for analysis, articulation, strategic alignment and activity to address risks to effective, sustainable KM.
A Proposed Framework for Designing Sustainable Communities for Knowledge Management Systems
Authors: Goel Lakshmi , Mousavidin Elham
Published: February 2011

Despite considerable academic and practitioner interest in knowledge management, success of knowledge management systems is elusive. This chapter provides a framework which suggests that KM success can be achieved by designing sustainable communities of practice. Communities of practice have proven to have significant economic and practical implications on organizational practices. A growing body of literature in KM recognizes the importance of communities that foster collaborative learning in organizations and almost all KMS have a ‘network’ component that facilitates connecting people in communities of practice. Evidence has shown that communities have been a key element in KMS of many companies including Xerox PARC, British Petroleum Co., Shell Oil Company, Halliburton, IBM, Proctor and Gamble, and Hewlett Packard.
Do Organizational Memory and Information Technology Interact to Affect Organizational Information Needs and Provision?
Authors: El Louadi Mohamed , Tounsi Imen
Published: February 2011

The results reported in this chapter were obtained through the study of 43 work-units belonging to five business firms in a large group of Tunisian companies. Using the declarative, procedural and judgmental dimensions of organizational memory, interaction effects were detected between IT and organizational memory. Analyses of the data support the view that storage technologies interact with declarative memory contributing to reduce organizational information needs. But, contrary to expectations, storage technologies interact negatively with declarative memory on information provision. Furthermore, network technologies interact negatively with judgmental memory on information provision. These results raise issues that have been rarely encountered in the literature.
Validating Distinct Knowledge Assets
Authors: Freeze Ron , Kulkarni Uday
Published: February 2011

Identification and measurement of organizational knowledge management capabilities is necessary to determine the extent to which an organization utilizes its knowledge assets. We developed and operationalized a set of constructs to measure capabilities associated with management of knowledge assets identified as distinct knowledge capabilities (KCs) comprising the overall knowledge management (KM) capability of an organizational unit. Each KC represents a distinct kind of knowledge that requires different organizational process and technological support. This delineation of knowledge allows targeted improvement to a specific KC. We present validation of these capability constructs with empirical evidence from two separate business units in a large semi-conductor manufacturing company, providing the basis of measurement standardization for KM capability improvement. Confirmatory factor analysis affirmed four KCs, each identified as an overall factor influencing a set of latent descriptor variables. Second order and general-specific structural equation models of each capability provide evidence as to the validity of measurement of these knowledge assets.
The Role of Situated Embodied Interaction in the Banking Customer Knowledge Creation Process
Authors: Värlander Sara
Published: February 2011

The increased reliance on Knowledge Management systems has made certain theorists to suggest that this will enable a surpassing of proximal knowledge creation, unequivocally leading up to more effective knowledge creation by easy codification and sharing of knowledge. However, in general, too much focus has been put on the potential of KM systems rather than its limits and the role of supporting social processes of knowledge creation has been largely ignored. The aim of the current research is to start to fill this gap in the KM literature by examining how social processes of knowledge creation are used in banking, taking the point of departure in an approach inspired from phenomenology. The paper illustrates how the increased use of KM systems has not decreased the need for relying on locally embedded service production, due to the invaluable knowledge creation processes that are generated through the embodiments of co-present interactions.
Organizational Readiness Assessment for Knowledge Management
Authors: Mohammadi Kaveh , Khanlari Amir , Sohrabi Babak
Published: February 2011

Implementing knowledge management or knowledge-sharing projects in an organization require significant organizational prerequisites. Lacking proper infrastructures and prerequisite, not only make the knowledge management process unprofitable, but might incur harmful effects as well. To decrease such risks, it is proposed to introduce the readiness assessment, in order to gauge a company’s appetite for the work involved in implementing the knowledge management. In this research, critical success factors have been extracted from literature reviews and surveyed through a questionnaire, distributed among 130 knowledge management experts. Then, to validate the measurement of the multi-item constructs, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used. Identifying effective variables and their grouping onto related factors, the second questionnaire was employed for readiness assessment of an IT firm working in Iran and its results were presented with Radar diagrams. Finally, promoting propositions were provided based on the firm’s current state.
Knowledge Management Toolkit for SMEs
Authors: Fink Kerstin , Ploder Christian
Published: February 2011

The discipline of knowledge management is no longer emerging in large organizations, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are focusing on finding the right process that will allow them to make advantages of their intellectual capital. Using survey data from 219 small and medium-sized enterprises in Austria and Switzerland, this article illustrates the four key knowledge processes (1) knowledge identification, (2) knowledge acquisition, (3) knowledge distribution, and (4) knowledge preservation for SMEs and also reports the findings of the empirical study designed to allocate cost-efficient software products to each of the four knowledge processes. As a result a knowledge toolkit for SMEs that integrates knowledge processes, methods and software tool for decision support making is given. Finally, the social view of knowledge management to SMEs is discussed, showing that the use of information technology is currently far more important than the integration of a social-cognitive perspective.
Improving Supply Chain Performance through the Implementation of Process Related Knowledge Transfer Mechanisms
Authors: McLaughlin Stephen
Published: February 2011

With the complexity of organizations increasing, it is becoming vitally important that organizations understand how knowledge is created and shared around their core business processes. However, many organizations deploy technology without due consideration for how their employees access, create, and share information and knowledge. This article explores the subject empirically through the study of how employees work with information and knowledge around a core business function—in this case a supply chain process. In order to do this, the organization needs to be viewed from a network perspective as it relates to specific business processes. Viewing the organization in this way enabled the author to see how employees’ preferred knowledge and information transfer mechanisms varied across the core process. In some cases, the identified transfer mechanisms where at odds with the prescribed organization wide mechanisms. However, when the organization considered the employees’ preferred transfer mechanisms as part of an overall process improvement, the E2E supply chain performance was seen to improve significantly.
Capturing Tacit Knowledge from Transient Workers
Authors: Hamza Salah Eldin Adam
Published: February 2011

This article studies the way tacit knowledge is dealt with in a high turnover business environment through a qualitative research approach in an engineering organization with respect to organizational culture and values and the effect in competitive stance. The study found peer review process and managerial/supervisory style to be effective in enabling new employees in a short time with knowledge critical for them to do a successful job, core values, and open-door policy to be necessary factors in forming a fertile environment for a quick tacit knowledge harvesting. The study also showed that a good competitive stance and customer satisfaction can be achieved and maintained through implementation of a rigorous peer review process. The study revealed noneffective utilization of knowledge management (KM) technical resources. The study directs future research towards evaluating possible objectives for utilization of KM technological resources, timeline for effective codification of tacit knowledge, and responsibilities for handling resources.
Culture and Knowledge Transfer Capacity
Authors: Khalil Omar E. M. , Seleim Ahmed
Published: February 2011

Increasing interest exists in understanding the factors that explain knowledge transfer capacity (KTC) at the societal level. In this paper, the authors posit that national culture may explain the differences among countries in their knowledge transfer capacities. The authors adopt House and colleagues’ (2004) national culture taxonomy as the theoretical framework to derive and test eighteen hypotheses relating national culture values and practices to societal KTC. KTC correlates positively with gender egalitarianism values, uncertainty avoidance practices, and future orientation practices. KTC also correlates negatively with uncertainty avoidance values, future orientation values, institutional collectivism values, in-group collectivism values, humane orientation practices, in-group collectivism values and practices, and power distance practices. Further analysis using gross domestic product (GDP) as a control variable revealed that only humane orientation practices influence KTC. The research findings are discussed, research limitations are identified, and implications are drawn.
Taking Charities Seriously
Authors: Greenaway Kathleen E. , Vuong David C. H.
Published: February 2011

The voluntary service not-for-profit sector (VSNFP), also called the charitable sector, is a neglected setting for knowledge management research. It is also an area with distinctive characteristics that preclude direct importation of knowledge management approaches developed for the for-profit sector. In this paper, the authors adapt a model for examining knowledge management research issues to the charitable sector and examine what is known about knowledge management in this important sector of society. Research and practitioner suggestions are provided.
The Effects of a KM Strategy on KM Performance in Professional Services Firms
Authors: Palte Reimar , Hertlein Michael , Smolnik Stefan , Riempp Gerold
Published: February 2011

Knowledge management (KM) is a critical issue in professional services firms (PSFs). Many researchers define a KM strategy as a crucial driver of KM success in corporations. Research demonstrates that there is a positive relationship between KM strategy and the performance of KM processes, which are both closely related to KM success. In the longitudinal benchmark survey presented in this paper, based on an integrated KM framework and focusing on PSFs, the authors found evidence of such an effect, that is, KM strategy’s impact on KM success.
Meso Level as an Indicator of Knowledge Society Development
Authors: Zorina Aljona , Avison David
Published: February 2011

This paper studies the nature and the importance of the link between macro and micro levels of innovation management in the knowledge society of Denmark, Sweden, USA, India, Russia, and Moldova, suggesting that countries with different levels of knowledge society development have different link types between the macro and micro levels of innovation management. In particular, findings show that countries with a higher level of knowledge society development have a two-way mediation process between the micro and macro levels of innovation management while countries with lower level of knowledge society development tend towards a “one-direction” link. This paper argues that innovation management can only be fully effective through paying attention to this intersection, which is free of biases inherent in each individually. The authors conclude by introducing a “meso-level” indicator for knowledge society development and underline areas of further research in the field.
A Collective-Intelligence View on the Linux Kernel Developer Community
Authors: Xia Haoxiang
Published: February 2011

With the rapid proliferation of all sorts of online communities, the knowledge creation and dissemination in these online communities have become a prominent social phenomenon. In this paper, one typical Open Source Software community—the online community of Linux kernel developers—is studied from the perspective of collective intelligence, to explore the social dynamics behind the success of the Linux kernel project. The Linux kernel developer community is modeled as a supernetwork of triple interwoven networks, namely a technological media network, a collaboration network of the developers, and a knowledge network. The development of the LDC is then an evolutionary process through which the supernetwork expands and the collective intelligence of the community develops. In this paper, a bottom-up approach is attempted to unravel this evolutionary process.
A Rough-Sets Approach to Kansei Evaluation Modeling and Design Support
Authors: Ju Hongli , Nakamori Yoshiteru
Published: February 2011

This paper proposes a Kansei modeling technique by using the Rough-sets Theory based on a set of evaluation data for Kutani-ware coffee cups. Kutani-ware is a famous traditional craft that is a very important traditional industry in Japan. However, it has been shrinking recently because of the changes in lifestyle or the appearance of more functional modern products. To reactivate this industry by developing and recommending products that attract people’s feelings, this study develops a modeling technique for identifying relations between design and feeling by obtaining some if-and-then rules. An important contribution of the paper is that the proposed technique can suggest new designs by analyzing customers’ Kansei requirements, which are not used in the evaluation experiment. This makes the recommendation successful by determining people’s Kansei into data instead of attempts.
Are We Stuck With Knowledge Management?
Authors: Griffiths David , Koukpaki Serge
Published: February 2011

This is a conceptual paper offering an approach to apparent practitioner and academic dissatisfaction with the field of Knowledge Management (KM). Discussing definitions of knowledge, the drivers for its value as an organisational resource and comparing these against definitions of Knowledge Management, this paper suggests a divergence between operational needs and KM as the medium for coordination. Offering an historical perspective of knowledge as a resource it suggests KM to be too broad a concept to be effective in fulfilling the needs of organisations. The authors suggest a continuum for knowledge resource development from which Strategic Knowledge Resource Development is offered as a potential solution for current unsatisfaction.
A Knowledge-Based System for Sharing and Reusing Tacit Knowledge in Robotic Manufacturing
Authors: Wang Lei , Tian Yajie , Sawaragi Tetsuo , Horiguchi Yukio
Published: February 2011

A critical problem in robotic manufacturing is that the task of teaching robotics is rather time-consuming. This has become a serious problem in the present age of cost reduction. Collaboration with a company in the field has revealed that the root cause of this problem is that there is not a common knowledge base in this domain, which can serve as shared and reused knowledge. In robotic manufacturing, the skills and experiences of skilled workers are a form of tacit knowledge that is difficult to be acquired and transferred to other workers and robots. This paper proposes a knowledge-based system for sharing and reusing tacit knowledge in the robotic assembly domain. In this system, a modified EBL (Explanation-based Learning) method is proposed to generalize tacit knowledge from specific robotic programs made by skilled workers. A newly operational criterion is proposed for the generalized tacit knowledge, which demands that it should be expressed understandably by human workers and be reusable by robots to generate programs automatically.
Learning in a Mobile Age
Authors: Traxler John
Published: February 2011

The launch of the International Journal of Mobile and Blended Learning is one of several indicators that mobile learning globally is reaching a critical and sustainable momentum and identity. The past six or seven years have seen a host of pilots and initiatives across sectors and across countries and these have established firstly that mobile learning takes learning to individuals, communities and countries where access to learning was challenging or problematic and secondly that mobile learning enhances, enriches and extends how learning is understood. Environmental factors have meant that this development has been haphazard. The mobile learning community is now faced with broader challenges of scale, durability, equity, embedding and blending in addition to the earlier and more specific challenges of pedagogy and technology, but these developments take place in the context of societies where mobile devices, systems and technologies have a far wider impact than just mobile learning as it is currently conceived. This paper looks at the definition and evolution of mobile learning as the starting point for a discussion of this wider impact.