bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Information systems outsourcing success factors: a review and some results
Authors: Gonzalez Reyes , Gasco Jose , Llopis Juan 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to offer the results of a survey about information systems (IS) outsourcing.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is a questionnaire survey of 357 IS managers in Spanish firms.FindingsIS outsourcing is a widespread activity that has been growing on a worldwide basis in recent years. The main outsourcing success factors for large Spanish firms are, in order of priority, the provider's understanding of clients' objectives, choosing the right provider, and the client's clear idea of what is sought through outsourcing.Originality/valueIdentifies the most important outsourcing success factors from the client point of view and present the relationships they have with certain characteristics of the firm like, for instance, its size.
Information technologies for business continuity: an implementation framework
Authors: Bajgoric Nijaz 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper aims at identifying key information technology enablers for business continuance.Design/methodology/approachThe paper provides an analysis of the issues surrounding communication technology downtime and business continuity.FindingsTo be competitive, today's business has to be continuous from a data availability perspective and agile with regard to data access. System and/or application downtime are not an option in modern business since each hour, even minute, of downtime may generate negative financial effects. A framework for the design and implementation of a server operating environment for business continuance is presented.Originality/valueAnalyses an important issue in the business environment.
IT applications in Kuwaiti financial companies: an analysis
Authors: ur Rehman Sajjad 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe objective of this study was to investigate the placement, role, functioning, and human resource aspects of IT departments in Kuwaiti corporate companies in the banking and finance sector.Design/methodology/approachThe results of this study are based on an interview‐based survey of IT managers in 17 banking, finance and investment companies in Kuwait. Data were collected through open‐ended interviews, focused upon the profile and organizational characteristics of IT operations, including placement, reporting relationship, role of managers, human resources, and internal organization. Information was collected about employment of servers, operating environments and applications of IT systems and networks these companies were using.FindingsIt has been found that most companies had elaborate IT functions where IT managers played a significant role. Large companies had built in‐house systems with little outsourcing while the majority of the other companies used turnkey systems and a great deal of outsourcing. Diversity was noted in system and network applications, related to the size and organizational needs of these companies. It was found that websites of most companies were static and these companies had to take firm initiatives if they had to adopt e‐commerce or electronic transactions.Originality/valueThis study has provided crucial understanding about the management of IT functions and applications in Kuwaiti companies.
An exploratory study of the critical factors affecting the acceptability of e‐learning in Nigerian universities
Authors: Folorunso Olusegun , Shawn Ogunseye Oluwafemi , Sharma Sushil K. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeEducation delivery via electronic media is becoming relevant in Nigeria educational systems, especially the universities. In spite of this, there are hindrances affecting the total acceptability of this technology.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, we investigated these critical factors by analyzing the questionnaires collected from three sampled universities in Nigeria: private, public and state owned universities.FindingsThe results obtained indicated that mass unawareness, low computer literacy level and cost were identified as the critical factors affecting the acceptability of the technology.Originality/valueAnalysis herein has shown the factors affecting the acceptability of e‐learning in Nigeria. The results obtained will assist policy makers by finding solutions to literacy problems in Nigeria.
Collaborating to compete: achieving effective knowledge sharing in organizations
Authors: Laycock Martyn 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to present a practitioner overview of the challenges and growing strategic importance of knowledge and knowledge sharing in organizations, considering roles of learning, and in particular networks, together with collaboration in the development of sustainable competitive edge through knowledge, knowledge management and the activities of knowledge workers.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the paper sets the scene for the development of the twenty‐first century knowledge economies, by providing a brief literature overview incorporating some of the key work of Peter Drucker, Charles Handy, Tom Stewart and others. It also provides insights into the London Knowledge Network and its role in supporting organizations in the pursuit of effective knowledge‐focused strategies. Then, via insights into three organizations: one medium‐sized private company (US) and two public (one small, one very large) UK organizations, some of the challenges are considered that organizations experience as they seek to use learning and knowledge as sources of sustainable competitive edge at organizational and often regional, national, international and global levels.FindingsOverall, it was found that knowledge management has not become the latest management fad but, if properly supported, can be used to benefit customers and workforces alike.Originality/valueSome conclusions are drawn about how organizations are managing the significant change, especially the cultural change, involved in using knowledge as a key driver for future competitiveness. This paper will be of use to any organization wishing to implement knowledge management.
Expanding the field of vision
Authors: Anklam Patti , Cross Rob , Gulas Vic 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to describe the emerging business discipline of organizational network analysis and its potential as a tool to guide efforts in creating awareness of where knowledge exists in an organization and how this expertise can be best tapped by an organization's workforce. Specific initiatives and activities that companies are using to promote the changes necessary to ensure that knowledge flows are discussed.Design/methodology/approachThe article gives a case example of building a networked organization at MWH Consulting, Broomfield, Colorado, USA.FindingsWhen organizational network analysis is accompanied by management practices that encourage, support, and require connectivity, employees more naturally leverage the expertise of peers and counterparts, wherever they live.Originality/valueThe article provides an insight into organizational network analysis and shows the barriers to and signifies the importance of knowledge management.
From atomism to networks in social systems
Authors: Snowden David 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to focus on the role of networks in organizations as a critical aspect of knowledge management and learning processes.Design/methodology/approachThe article has built on an established technique, namely SNA, by shifting from individuals to identities and then to abstractions.FindingsBy making the shifts identified above, a solid and tool‐rich body of research is used as a base on which to build, but in effect the focus is on using the network intelligence rather than assemblies of atomistic individual intelligences: the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but only if one understands it as a whole.Originality/valueThe article has focused on problem resolution, but the technique also shows potential as a generic innovation tool, and as a possible model to create an alternative mechanism for the distribution of funding within organizations including governments.
Knowledge sharing and strategic capital
Authors: Smith Peter A.C. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis article seeks to propose that the success of an organization's knowledge‐sharing strategy and the magnitude of its strategic capital are critically dependent on its having the capability to visualize relationship‐networks among its employees, and means to identify and leverage, as appropriate, patterns of positive or negative influence.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on the author's own experiences and those of other authors in the same field.FindingsThere seems no evidence in the literature that programs can be mounted to deliberately develop opinion leaders by helping them acquire such meta‐capabilities or assume archetypical characteristics.Originality/valueUtilization of the NVA‐based approach described here will provide an enhanced real‐world understanding of how the various sectors and network layers of an organization coalesce, and relate to one another, at micro and macro levels.
Japan's learning communities in Hewlett‐Packard Consulting and Integration
Authors: Kohlbacher Florian , Mukai Kazuo 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to explain and analyze community‐based corporate knowledge sharing and organizational learning, the actual use of communities in Hewlett Packard (HP) Consulting and Integration (CI) and their role in leveraging and exploiting existing and creating new knowledge.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents an explanatory case study research design, qualitative interviews with top executives, middle managers and employees conducted in 2005 and 2006. Explanatory case studies were used to analyze, illustrate and exemplify major findings.FindingsThe paper identified an effective approach to community‐based knowledge sharing and organizational learning at HP CI Japan's learning communities (LCs). The case study illustrates the main characteristics, features and mechanisms of communities within the framework of HP's global and local knowledge management (KM) structure and resulting activities, and illuminates effective adaptation to the Japanese working and business context.Research limitations/implicationsGeneral limitations of case studies and generalizability of such field research apply.Practical implicationsThe research has important implications for firms and business practitioners by highlighting how HP's Japanese‐style LCs facilitate intra‐organizational knowledge sharing and creation.Originality/valueThis paper presents a real‐life example of an effective community at HP CI Japan, its mechanism and practical value for companies. Even though HP's KM activities have frequently been researched, HP CI's learning communities are discussed for the first time and illuminate that even within one single company there is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution.
Emergent communities of practice in temporary inter‐organisational partnerships
Authors: Juriado Rein , Gustafsson Niklas 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe paper aims to discuss the emergence of communities of practice in a temporary event organisation involving public and private partners.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs qualitative methods in the form of 31 semi‐structured interviews, a five‐week period of participant observations and archive research in a Swedish public‐private partnership, focused on large‐scale media and entertainment event.FindingsIn the temporary event‐driven project‐based organisational structure studied, communities of practice emerged by themselves because of the complexity of the task at hand. These are called “emergent communities of practice”. Four built‐in organisational mechanisms that cultivated the emergent communities of practice were identified: trust building stability; competence contributors; competence shadows; and social glue of informal events. Surprisingly, the public/private dimension was found not to affect the emergence of the community negatively.Research limitations/implicationsGiven that conclusions are based on the Swedish data, the paper recommends that similar studies be carried out in other countries.Originality/valueThe paper extends the framework of communities of practice beyond the boundaries of a single or few stable organisations by analysing communities of practice within a temporary project organisation; it introduces the concept emergent communities of practice; and it proposes four ways to cultivate communities of practice.
Scratching beneath the surface of communities of (mal)practice
Authors: Pemberton Jon , Mavin Sharon , Stalker Brenda 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis paper seeks to surface less positive aspects of communities of practice (CoPs), regardless of emergent or organisationally managed, grounded in political‐power interactions. Examples are provided from the authors' experiences of a research‐based CoP within UK higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is primarily theoretical with empirical examples drawn from a descriptive CoP case study.FindingsThe paper discusses the following themes: the impact of timing on CoP development; the impact of CoP leaders and managers in “managed” CoPs; the power‐political interrelationship between emergent CoPs and formal organisation; the impact of dominant actors with position power; emotional containment and emotion work within CoPs; power implications of novices and masters and the implications when CoP practices diverge from organisational practices. It finds that to ignore such issues of power within CoPs is to limit the knowledge creation process.Research limitations/implicationsFurther empirical research is necessary to investigate micro and macro power‐political issues of CoPs. In particular, emotional containment and emotion work of CoP members and the impact of this on knowledge creation is worthy of future research.Practical implicationsThe paper has significant implications for CoPs in practice as the quest for pragmatic mechanisms to develop individual and organisational learning and knowledge creation for competitive advantage.Originality/valueWhile there is an implicit assumption that CoPs are “good” and benefit individuals and organisations, this paper highlights less positive power‐political issues relating to CoPs which are under researched in the extant literature.
The role of the HyCon design‐support tool in elevating hybrid concrete as a design option for structural frames
Authors: Sexton Martin , Goulding Jack , Zhang Xiaonan , Kagioglou Mike , Aouad Ghassan , Cooper Rachel , Barrett Peter 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify interdependent barriers to the search and selection of new technologies by design engineers at industry, organisation and individual levels. A “proof of concept” HyCon tool is presented to demonstrate the role of information technology design support tools in supporting designers to overcome these inhibitors, in this case for hybrid concrete, by providing immersive and interactive, information‐rich environments to explore design solutions.Design/methodology/approachThe HyCon tool was developed through a prototyping methodology encompassing a testing, analysis, design and coding iterative cycle. This was supported by case studies and industry workshops.FindingsThe results of a collaborative research project are presented, which describes the HyCon design support tool to promote the understanding and use of hybrid concrete in structural frames. This tool is built around a knowledge creation, application, storage, and retrieval cycle to envision and support the use of this new technology.Originality/valueThis paper fulfils an identified need to integrate technology management and design process considerations within the context of an information technology design support tool, and offers a “proof of concept” HyCon tool to demonstrate key issues and potential utilities and applications.
Conflicting factors in construction projects: Korean perspective
Authors: Acharya Nirmal Kumar , Dai Lee Young , Man Im Hae 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to identify and explore pertinent conflicting factors in construction projects; which would be helpful for project planners and implementers in assessing and taking proactive measures for reducing the adverse effect of conflict.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the study objectives, a 43‐item questionnaire survey in a five‐point Likert scale was carried out to collect professionals' experience on conflicting activities in Korean construction projects. Responses from 124 professionals working for owners, consultants and contractors were analyzed. Furthermore, ten face‐to face interviews were also carried out to ratify the findings from the field survey. Later, analytical hierarchical process method was employed to find out the importance weighting as well as responsible party for the perceived conflicts.FindingsThis study has found out six critical construction conflicting factors pertinent in Korean context. These factors with importance weighting are: differing site condition (24.1 percent), public interruption (22.5 percent), differences in change order evaluation (21 percent), design errors (17.1 percent), excessive contract quantities variation (8.2) and double meaning of specifications (7.1 percent). The study has revealed that owner (35.6 percent) and consultant (34.18 percent) are mostly responsible parties for conflicts in construction projects.Originality/valueAs the previous researches have been indicating increase in conflicts in construction field, this paper is very topical at the moment. This work has tried to explore the underlying problems of the construction field. The study provides field level experiences from which the inexperience construction site professionals could learn the instances of conflicts and not repeat the mistakes in their projects.
The satisfaction levels of UK construction clients based on the performance of consultants
Authors: Cheng Jianxi , Proverbs David G. , Oduoza Chike F. 
Published: January 2007

PurposeClient satisfaction is one of the major determinants of project success and therefore is a fundamental issue for construction participants who must constantly seek to improve their performance if they are to survive in the marketplace. However, client satisfaction has remained an elusive issue for a majority of construction professionals. This research aims to investigate the performance of construction consultants to determine those key performance attributes which have a crucial impact on client satisfaction, and from that to identify ways of improving the services provided by such consultants.Design/methodology/approachThis research presents the results of a UK‐wide client satisfaction survey based on the performance of a large engineering and management consultancy organisation whom they employed.FindingsResults indicate that key performance attributes for consultants including technical accuracy; overall quality of services and people, have been identified as the main client satisfaction criteria. Clients consider effective communications and their service providers as being most important in determining their satisfaction levels. Furthermore, it is revealed that clients' strategic decisions and the overall performance of consultants in those key areas make a significant contribution towards client satisfaction.Originality/valueThe outcome of this research will improve the understanding of the client satisfaction phenomenon and benefit clients and construction consultants.
Factors inducing knowledge creation: empirical evidence from Thai construction projects
Authors: Teerajetgul Wasan , Charoenngam Chotchai 
Published: January 2007

PurposeThis research is aimed at examining the relationships between knowledge factors and the knowledge creation process in construction projects, paying particular attention to on‐site work.Design/methodology/approachThe design of this research is cross‐sectional and uses a blended methodological approach of both quantitative and qualitative methods. The research model includes the following variables; six knowledge factors: vision of leadership, trust, collaboration, incentives, information technology (IT) support, and individual competencies; and four knowledge creation processes: socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. Survey data from 70 construction projects in Thai construction firms, obtained by means of a questionnaire developed by the researcher, were collated and analyzed. As a means of testing the model, regression analysis techniques were used to analyze the data.FindingsConsistent with previous empirical evidence, three knowledge factors affected the knowledge creation process: incentives, IT, and individual competencies. It was noted that these factors overlay the knowledge creation process at all execution stages of on‐site construction.Originality/valueThis research is expected to contribute to a better understanding of important knowledge factors and knowledge management research in Thai construction that is still at an infancy stage. In order to build a knowledge creative culture, construction project executives need to support and maximize the value of human assets (individual competencies). Furthermore, facilitating IT‐supported knowledge management in construction projects needs to be considered and emphasized needs to be placed on productive work and gain a competitive advantage.
A network approach to project business analysis
Authors: Sandhu Maqsood , Helo Petri 
Published: January 2007

PurposeBased upon previous models and the extant literature, the purpose of this paper is to present a network approach to describing and analyzing inter‐organizational relationships in project business. The framework provides a better understanding of the dynamic processes and critical interfaces in a network context, and advocates the use of the tools of agile supply‐demand networks (ASDN) and design structure matrix (DSM).Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper uses a network approach to understand inter‐organizational business relationships in resource management. This approach is useful for understanding relationships in project business, which usually involves a wide array of actors or stakeholders who provide resources or have an interest in project outcomes.FindingsThe paper concludes that a network‐based framework provides a solid basis for a rich description and analysis of a multi‐actor project business, as well as assisting in understanding important interpersonal relationship factors that affect project success‐such as trust, commitment, and adaptation.Research limitations/implicationsModels of the type discussed here have been implemented in larger multinational corporations, but they might not be applicable in smaller enterprises that do not have overall control of a network.Practical implicationsThe paper presents useful practical tools for understanding the dynamic processes of networks in project‐based business, and for identifying the actors, activities and resource interdependencies involved.Originality/valueThis paper extends upon previous approaches to project business and presents practical tools that can be used to analyze project‐business networks.