Article

Contributing factors in knowledge sharing for performance of university students in teachers' training programs

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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study stated effects of independent variables of trust, social networks, and information and communication technologies (ICTs) on explicit and tacit knowledge. Further, it explained contributions of explicit and tacit knowledge to performance in academic environment. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on research model of hypothetical relationships of various criterion and predictor variables. Structural equation model was used in which research model was analyzed by using confirmatory factor analysis. Findings Some criterion variables were observed for predictor variables of explicit and tacit knowledge. It was observed that explicit knowledge contributed indirectly and tacit knowledge contributed directly to overall performance. Current research explained explicit and tacit knowledge as contributors for performance. It also explained effects and patterns of explicit and tacit knowledge toward performance. Originality/value This research highlighted that the effects of contributing factors for explicit and tacit knowledge have variations in response to socio-economic and geo-political circumstances. These variations can be expected from other issues like use and access of ICTs. But contributing pattern of knowledge for performance remains same.

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... Various studies have investigated the relationship between the tendency to share knowledge and academic performance (Chiu & Hsu, 2006;Shah & Mahmood, 2016;Moghavvemi et al., 2018). In fact, During the Covid-19 pandemic, technology played an important role in improving teachers' teaching performance and became an important medium in sharing knowledge and education (Suparsa et al., 2021). ...
... They concluded that knowledge sharing has a positive effect on students' academic performance with the mediating role of competence. In another study conducted by Shah and Mahmood (2016) on 360 final semester students revealed that explicit knowledge sharing indirectly and tacit knowledge directly affect students' performance. ...
... Hypotheses 2-1 (CB has a positive and significant effect on students' academic performance), 2-2 (SIB has a positive and significant effect on students' academic performance), and 2-3 (PIB has a positive and significant effect on students' academic performance) investigated the relationship between the dimensions of knowledge sharing and students' academic performance. Consistent with the previous studies (Eid & Al-Jabri, 2016;Aslam et al., 2014;Shah & Mahmood, 2016), the result showed that only two of the advantages of online knowledge sharing (i.e., SIB and PIB) can affect the students' academic performance. The SIB and PIB dimensions refer to the personal and virtual group networks, students' academic reputations, and their connections with the group to influence each other's knowledge. ...
Article
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Given the importance of digital communication during the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for advancing academic goals through online social capital is more tangibly felt. This study examined the hypothesis that online social capital can improve the students’ academic performance, as one of the main academic goals, through the mediation of knowledge sharing in the online environment. Participants in the study were 376 graduate engineering students from five universities in Iran. The findings indicated that the bridging of online social capital had a positive and significant effect on the cognitive and social integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing. Besides, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits of online knowledge sharing influenced academic performance. Finally, the social integrative benefits and personal integrative benefits had a mediating role in the relationship between the bridging of online social capital and academic performance. Implications of the findings are discussed for the students’ academic performance and suggestions are provided for future research.
... Tacit knowledge is knowledge derived from experience, which mainly exists in individuals' minds. Tacit knowledge has been characterized as uncodified, highly personal, and experiential knowledge, and as a result it is difficult to be expressed in words and nearly impossible to capture in databases [34,37,39]. Due to the varied nature of tacit knowledge, its sharing takes place through extensive personal contact, regular and close interactions, and shared understanding between parties. ...
... The results also show that knowledge sharing relates to team performance in VLE, a finding which is consistent with those of existent studies [34,48]. In our study, explicit knowledge sharing was found to be positively associated with team performance not only directly but also via tacit knowledge sharing. ...
... On the one hand, these results corroborate that explicit knowledge sharing contributes to team learning performance in VLE, which supports our H6. On the other hand, the mediating effect of tacit knowledge sharing recalls the results of Elton [13], Shah and Mahmood [34], and Zaqout and Abbas [48], which illustrated that tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge are both better for academic research. Regarding our research results, meaningful implications in both theoretical and practical terms are discussed next. ...
Conference Paper
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Many educational institutions and organizations have attempted to encourage knowledge sharing by implementing virtual learning communities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, how to utilize virtual communication technologies to effectively facilitate knowledge sharing among geographically dispersed learners has become an extremely urgent issue. Our study investigated 88 undergraduates (nested in 10 groups) from a University in Southwest China. The research results reveal that self-presence and virtual member trust are the primary determinants in facilitating knowledge sharing (explicit vs tacit) in a virtual learning environment (VLE). Additionally, considering the challenges of forming effective collaborations in VLE (e.g., environment uncertainty, and one-way oriented communication), virtual leadership for improving the coordination of joint activities was developed. Virtual leadership improves the climate of a virtual learning environment by strengthening the relationships between self-presence/virtual member trust and knowledge sharing. Finally, the positive interrelationship of explicit/tacit knowledge sharing and team performance is confirmed in our research.
... Furthermore, knowledge sharing is a complex intellectual process as well as a process of refining knowledge. Research identifies that, directly and indirectly, knowledge-sharing processes improve teachers' overall performance (Shah and Mahmood, 2016). Knowledge is knowledge for the knower, whereas sharing is a process of updating the knowledge (Wilson, 2000). ...
Article
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Knowledge sharing experience among teachers in higher education practice is important now a days. This study aims at exploring the experiences of the knowledge-sharing process among teachers in a higher education institution. It highlights teachers' professional experience professionally in knowledge sharing. Social-constructivist perspectives and phenomenological study frameworks are used. Data was collected by conducting in-depth interviews with two people from a college under Tribhuvan University, an institution of higher education. Data were analyzed by coding, creating themes, showing interrelationships, and reasoning. Results show that institutional culture and politics, teacher rewards, beliefs, status, and professional ethics and standards influence decisions to share or withhold knowledge with some teacher colleagues. The outcomes focus on professional conditions, political influences, and incentives all have a significant impact on knowledge sharing, with institutionalized processes and hierarchies affecting the willingness of educators to share expertise. Trust and ethical considerations are also important, with trust and perceptions of ethical standards affecting active involvement and cooperation. This study recommends that knowledge sharing is a productive topic to carry out research in the future.
... An individual's prospects for establishing connections with other virtual community partners are referred to as SIB, and their expectations for advancing their status as experts and influencing others are referred to as PIB [77]. Numerous investigations have looked into the connection between the propensity to impart knowledge and educational success [76], [78], [79]. ...
Article
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This study investigates the underlying factors that contribute to the success of digital learning in higher education using a social capital perspective. It is important to address the issues faced in tertiary education as these students will soon be a part of the workforce. Although digital learning has advanced in developed countries, many developing nations, including Sri Lanka, are still in the early stages of adopting it. Previous research has not adequately explored the relationship between social capital and the challenges of digital learning in the Sri Lankan context. Thus, this study focuses on examining the structural, relational, and cognitive aspects of social capital in relation to the difficulties in digital education in tertiary institutions. The research uses a quantitative approach, and the data were collected through an online survey of students in nonstate universities in Sri Lanka. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data, and the results showed that the three dimensions of poor social capital have a negative impact on digital education in tertiary institutions. This study also used multigroup moderation analysis to examine the effect of gender and location. This article will provide new insights into the role of social capital in digital education and will help policy makers to improve the quality and accessibility of digital education for all.
... The provide literature consistently shows that kinds of knowledge take important part on the increasing organization's performance (Almatrooshi et al., 2020;Kader Jilani et al., 2020;Kurniawan et al., 2020;Shah and Mahmood, 2016) the act of sharing knowledge also had a role on increasing human resources' performance by distributing efficient knowledge and better productivity (Huie et al., 2020). So, the hypothesis submitted is: ...
Article
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The purpose of this research is to test and analyze the impact of transformational leadership and the religiosity values to the knowledge sharing and the performance of human resources. This is an explanatory research that emphasized on the relation between research variable by testing the hypothesis. To get the complete data and accurate also accountable the scientific truth used the questionnaire and interview. Instrument used in this research are questioners in Likert scale 1 to 5. Total of the respondents in this research are 141 SCAs in Salatiga Government. Researcher collects online quest data using Google form which send directly to the respondents, until the exact amount fulfilled. Data analysis in this research use Partial Least Square (PLS). Result of this research shows that Transformational Leadership has significant positive effect to the Knowledge Sharing. The Transformational Leadership has positive effect to the performance of human resources. Religiosity values have positive effect to the Knowledge Sharing but found that Religiosity Values do not have any significant effects to the performance of human resources. Knowledge Sharing doesn’t have significant effect to the improvement performance of human resources. So that the performance of human resources can be improved by implementation of Transformational Leadership. Knowledge Sharing in the organization can be improving by Transformational Leadership and Religiosity values implementation.
... The results indicated that KBT significantly predicted WSTK. However, KBT contradicts Shah and Mahmood's (2016) findings that trust is not significant within a tacit knowledge-sharing relationship. Conversely, KBT supported Endres and Rhoad's (2016) finding that repeat interactions promote tacit knowledge transfer. ...
Article
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Despite leaders’ investment in knowledge management practices, 76% of U.S. employees are hesitant to share tacit knowledge with co-workers. Researchers have suggested that willingness to share hinders the tacit knowledge transfer process. Employees become unwilling to share tacit knowledge with others due to cooperation and competition. The aim of this research is to understand the role of peer-to-peer cooperation on willingness to share tacit knowledge (WSTK). A total of 250 U.S. employees were sampled to measure knowledge-based trust (KBT) on WSTK. Pearson correlation and linear regression were used to investigate KBT and WSTK. Results indicated that KBT significantly predicted WSTK. Employee age and same-gender interactions did not influence the KBT-WSTK relationship. It was concluded that leaders and managers who promote KBT relationships are likely to encourage WSTK and create advantages over competitors.
... Hence, it is vital to research about KSB of students as they will be part of organizations in the future and will carry their behavior along themselves (Majid and Panchapakesan 2015). Few studies have also been conducted by Pakistani researchers about KSB and factors affecting KSB of social sciences' students, faculty of education, medical sciences, and management sciences students (Aslam 2015;Baig and Waheed 2016;Rafique 2014;Shah and Mahmood 2016). Some other studies have also been conducted in Pakistan regarding KS and factors impacting sharing of knowledge in pharmaceutical, healthcare, dairy, banking, and industrial sectors of Pakistan (Abbas, Abdul Rasheed, and Shahzad 2013;Asrar-ul-Haq and Anwar 2016;Basit-Memon, Mirani, and Bashir 2018;Javaid and Soroya 2020;Khan et al. 2016;Rehman, Ilyas, and Asghar 2015;Shah and Mahmood 2013;Tahir et al. 2012;Zubair, Ahmad, and Ahmed 2014). ...
Article
The purpose of this study was to investigate students’ behavior towards knowledge sharing and the factors, individual and classroom, affecting it. Quantitative research design was used to conduct this study. Students enrolled in engineering universities, located in three provinces (Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh) and capital (Islamabad) of Pakistan, were the population of this study. Researchers collected the data through survey questionnaires. SPSS-22 was used to analyze the collected data and for testing the hypotheses. Results revealed that the majority of engineering students’ knowledge sharing behavior was positive. Findings proved that majority of individual and classroom related factors were affecting knowledge sharing behavior of Pakistani students significantly. This is the first study which investigated Pakistani 10 engineering category universities’ students’ behavior towards knowledge sharing and factors impacting it. Results contributed in the body of literature by advancing it regarding behavior towards knowledge sharing in the context of engineering students of Pakistan. The study’s findings can play a vital role in facilitating educational institutions, students, and academicians in understanding the factors impacting students’ knowledge sharing behavior. This, in turn, might help them in removing negatively influencing factors by taking essential measures and facilitating factors with positive impact to improve students’ knowledge sharingbehavior.
... The authors suggest that there are some factors that might be studied, such as trust, communication and collaboration behaviour among academics. Shah and Mahmood (2016) reviewed the literature and argued that KS is an emerging area of research in Pakistan. However, this area has gained attention and recently a good number of studies have explored the KS behaviour of employees of different organizations focusing in the business sector (Ali et al., 2018;Aslam et al., 2018;Gillani et al., 2018;Iqbal et al., 2015;Iqbal and Asrar-ul-Haq, 2017;Malik and Kanwal, 2018;Muqadas et al., 2017;Rafique et al., 2018;. ...
Article
Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the attitude of faculty members towards knowledge-sharing in the University of Education, Lahore. The impact of personal and organizational factors that may contribute to effective knowledge-sharing among the university’s teaching staff is also analyzed. The factors affecting the willingness of the faculty members to share knowledge are broadly classified as “organizational” and “personal” factors. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on permanent teaching staff working at different campuses of the University of Education all over the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The survey instrument for this study was adapted from four studies. The questionnaires were distributed among 246 faculty members personally. Findings The findings of the study showed that the faculty members were familiar with the importance of knowledge-sharing and were also interested in sharing their knowledge and expertise with others. The results showed that organizational factors (trust, reward system and organizational culture) played a vital role in enhancing the knowledge-sharing attitude of faculty members. The impact of these factors on knowledge-sharing attitude was significant. Originality/value This is the very first study which explored the personal and organizational factors of knowledge-sharing in a specific academic institution from Pakistan. The findings of the research provided useful insights to the management of the University of Education particularly and other universities in general to design strategies for enhancing knowledge-sharing culture in the higher education institution. These findings may also be helpful for other developing countries.
... Table 4, 5 and 10 sustain this proposition where a high proportion of student teachers expressed their unreadiness to integrate ICTs into their teaching practice because of the lack of proper ICTs' training. These findings echo results emerged from many researches mentioned earlier, that student teachers need to be provided with sufficient ICTs training in order to increase their readiness to implement efficiently ICTs into their future education (Enochsson, 2010;Janssens-Bevernage et al., 2010;Shah & Mahmood, 2016). Therefore, in Table 7 and 8 we witnessed a consensus among student teachers that free access to university computer laps and training courses are crucial to the enhancement ICTs skills. ...
Article
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The Ministry of Education in Egypt (MOE) has worked very hard to launch different initiatives to improve the Egyptian education system by using Information and Communication Technology (ICTs). The current research seeks to explore how Asyut student teachers perceive the upshots of these initiatives. Results are expected to shed light on the overall teacher education process in Asyut University and its role in preparing 21st century teachers. The current research is evolved to answer the following questions: 1) How Asyut student teachers describe their investment of ICTs to achieve academic purposes? 2) How Asyut student teachers describe their ICTs competencies? 3) How Asyut student teachers classify obstacles hindering the enhancement of their ICTs competencies? Results authenticate the growing awareness Asyut student teachers developed about ICTs and how it has become a substantial component of everyday 21st century education experience. They understand that it has become their gateway to the 21st century teaching platform. In the meantime, they recognize that their ability to successfully integrate ICTs into their teaching practice is a complex and multifaceted process. The current research adds to the body of literature in a few ways. Through analyzing the gains and drawbacks, Egyptian teacher education experienced in its attempt to integrate ICTs into teachers’ preparation process. The current research recommends: first, improving the existing training mechanism; second, ensuring funds will have the biggest impact on the largest number of student teachers; finally, getting training right is a priority.
... Organizations need to pay attention to facilitate knowledge-sharing behavior because there is a lack of research between authentic leadership and knowledge-sharing behavior [6]. In Telecom organization, knowledge-sharing has been under discussion of many researchers [7]. In fact, there are some researcher who explores the relationship of authentic leadership and knowledge-sharing behavior [8]. ...
Article
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This paper aims to explore the effects of authentic leadership on knowledge-sharing behavior and moderating role of Islamic work ethics. There is limited research devoted to the authentic leadership and knowledge-sharing behaviour within the Telecom sectors of Pakistan. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of authentic leadership on knowledge sharing behavior with moderating role of Islamic work ethics. This is a quantitative research study. Convenience sample method was used as a sampling technique for this research. The data was collected from different two organizations (Mobilink and Ufone) and questionnaire was distributed to 220 employees, working in various multinational organizations of Islamabad (Pakistan). The data was analyzed using SPSS. The result showed that authentic leadership at Telecom organizations was developed positive behavior through knowledge-sharing. Therefore, the association between authentic leadership, Islamic work ethics and knowledge-sharing behavior is positive. The contribution of this study is Islamic work ethics using first time between authentic leadership and knowledge sharing behavior which not used so far.
... The focus of previous studies had been on understanding the impact of information and knowledge sharing on the performance of corporate and public organisations including higher educational institutions (Zaqout and Abbas, 2012;Cho and Jahng, 2014;Lee et al., 2014;Hussain et al., 2015;Jianping et al., 2015;Park et al., 2015;Marouf, 2016;Shah and Mahmood, 2016). Students generally share a lot of tacit and explicit knowledge with their fellows via di®erent means of communication (Snyder and Lee-Partridge, 2013). ...
Article
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Objectives: This study aimed at exploring the factors that motivated and hindered the medical students to share their knowledge with each other. Method: A survey questionnaire was used to collect the data from 260 medical students selected by proportionate stratified simple random sampling technique from University College of Medicine of The University of Lahore, Pakistan. Results: A total of 252 (96.9%) questionnaires were received from respondents. Of the seven purposes for knowledge sharing (KS) (if grades/exams do matter), two obtained a maximum mean score of 3.88; while one got 4.02 if grades/exams do not matter. Four of the eight motivational factors got top mean scores of 3.59 to 3.88. Of the 11 barriers, “People only share with those who share with them” obtained a highest mean score (3.81). Conclusions: Major findings showed that medical students discussed exam-related matters and enhanced their own understanding by KS. Class participation and group discussion stimulated them to share knowledge with their peers. They considered give-and-take a big barrier of KS. The overall opinions of female students scored higher than males.
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Thesis
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Chapter
The technological evolution involves important changes in the knowledge generation and transmission processes. In this context, the development of virtual learning environments permits the establishment of learning-based instructions, where student-centered learning is emphasized. The objective of this paper is to analyze the creation of explicit and tacit knowledge that entails the virtual learning environment established in a subject of Economics. Results of the questionnaires indicate that an online platform is a tool that provides explicit and tacit knowledge in our students, in which students’ capacity improvement is emphasized. Besides, information and communication technologies allow students to obtain a better comprehension and retention of knowledge that is reflected in the students’ grades. Hence, the necessity of developing educational policies that promotes the use of these technologies.
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Previous research has revealed the following three challenges for knowledge sharing: awareness of expertise distribution, motivation for sharing, and network ties. In this case study, we examine how different generations of information and communication technologies (ICTs), ranging from e-mail to micro-blogging, can help address these challenges. Twenty-one interviews with employees from a multinational company revealed that although people think social media can better address these challenges than older tools, the full potential of social media for supporting knowledge sharing has yet to be achieved. When examining the interconnections among different ICTs, we found that employees′ choice of a combination of ICTs, as affected by their functional backgrounds, could create “technological divides” among them and separate resources. This finding indicates that having more ICTs is not necessarily better. ICT integration, as well as support for easy navigation, is crucial for effective knowledge search and sharing. Adaptation to local culture is also needed to ensure worldwide participation in knowledge sharing.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that stimulated the sharing of tacit and explicit knowledge and their effects on performance among research‐mode graduate students. The findings of this study provided a better understanding of the knowledge‐sharing activities among graduate students who were engaged in project‐based or individual learning activities. Design/methodology/approach The survey method was employed to gather data and the resulting data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. A total of 245 valid responses were collected from students enrolled in various graduate programmes at the main and branch campuses of Universiti Sains Malaysia. Findings The students reported a positive and constructive approach toward knowledge sharing with the exogenous variables, namely, trust, social networks, and information and communications technology (ICT) reporting significant positive direct effects on the mediating variables, namely, tacit and explicit knowledge. Only tacit knowledge had a significant direct effect on performance, the endogenous variable. In addition, the knowledge‐sharing activities were localized to the respective campuses. Research limitations/implications The investigation involved samples from one university. A large sample size that involves other universities is needed in order to generalize the findings. Practical implications The paper offers a snapshot of the intensity and pattern of knowledge‐sharing behaviours that can be used to improve learning and performance among students engaged in individual learning. Originality/value To the authors' knowledge, no previous studies have investigated knowledge‐sharing activities among research‐mode students at the Master and Doctoral levels.
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This paper is to explore how culture plays a role in knowledge sharing within the social interaction context based on virtual internet platform of online social networking. As to find answers to this study, the questions posted were related to the hours spend, language used, types of knowledge sharing, and the interaction pattern. The respondents’ feedback responses will be analyzed through the content analysis of the qualitative method. Study findings showed online social networking culture is related to knowledge sharing as a way of life, and the findings of this study can be a platform for future research on the capabilities and benefits of online social networking. This research gives an insight on how Malaysians share knowledge and benefits that they obtained through online social networking.
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This article draws on social realist approaches in the sociology of knowledge and in light of them constructs three scenarios for the future of education in the next decades. The primary focus of the article is on one of the most crucial questions facing educational policy makers — the relationship between school and everyday or common sense knowledge. The different possibilities for how the school/non-school knowledge boundaries might be approached are expressed in three scenarios —‘boundaries treated as given’, ‘a boundary-less world’ and the idea of ‘boundary maintenance as a condition for boundary crossing’. The curriculum implications of each are explored and the article makes the case for the third scenario. The factors likely to make one or other scenario dominate educational policy in the next 20–30 years are also considered.
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Purpose This study aims to explore the impact of affect‐based and cognition‐based trust of co‐workers on the willingness of professionals to share and use tacit knowledge. Design/methodology/approach The relationships were examined through data provided by a sample of 202 professionals and managers in world headquarters of an international organization. Findings The levels of both types of trust influence the extent to which staff members are willing to share and use tacit knowledge. Affect‐based trust has a significantly greater effect on the willingness to share tacit knowledge, while cognition‐based trust plays a greater role in willingness to use tacit knowledge. Research limitations/implications The data are cross‐sectional and were also collected in one organization. Future studies should consider longitudinal designs across multiple organizations. Alternatively, archival information could be used to measure actual tacit knowledge sharing and use among co‐workers. Practical implications The results indicate that both distinct types of trust are involved in decisions affecting transfer and use of tacit knowledge. This suggests that knowledge management efforts may need to include a finer grained view of the nature of the social networks impacting the knowledge transfer and management process. Originality/value Previous studies have not examined the differential effects of both affect‐based and cognition‐based trust on employee willingness to share and use tacit knowledge.
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Purpose The purpose of this study is to identify and examine various factors that influence the success or failure of knowledge management (KM) initiatives in project‐based companies. Design/methodology/approach Following a literature review, the study proposes a conceptual model of six factors of potential importance to the success of KM initiatives. The model is then examined through an online survey of project managers and assistant managers from project‐based businesses in Finland. Findings The study finds that a lack of incentives and the absence of an appropriate information system are the most significant barriers to successful KM initiatives in projects. Research limitations/implications The findings of the study may be restricted in terms of generalisability because of the limited empirical study. Practical implications Project managers should formulate an attractive incentive package to encourage project members to participate in KM initiatives and to suggest ideas for new KM opportunities. Managers should also ensure that an effective user‐friendly information system is in place before introducing KM initiatives. Originality/value The study proposes a new model of critical success factors for KM initiatives in the context of project‐based business.
Chapter
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The evolving shift from 'teaching' to 'learning' in contemporary education is strongly related to an increasing involvement of information and communication technologies and the Web. Although the latter was initially of a static nature and merely required passive human viewers, this is currently changing towards a second generation of dynamic services and communication tools that emphasize on peer-topeer collaboration, contributing, and sharing, both among humans and programs. In this chapter, this revolution, usually known under the collective term Web 2.0, is reviewed from an educational as well as a technological point of view. The issues and controversies arising are backed up by case studies from diverse educational contexts to illustrate the potential of the proposed solutions. The discussion is finally concluded with some exciting speculations on the envisaged arrival of Web 3.0 and collaborative content sharing with semantic technologies.
Article
Utilizing online learning resources (OLR) from multi channels in learning activities promise extended benefits from traditional based learning-centred to a collaborative based learning-centred that emphasizes pervasive learning anywhere and anytime. While compiling big data, cloud computing, and semantic web into OLR offer a broader spectrum of pervasive knowledge acquisition to enrich users’ experience in learning. In conventional learning practices, a student is perceived as a recipient of information and knowledge. However, nowadays students are empowered to involve in learning processes that play an active role in creating, extracting, and improving OLR collaborative learning platform and knowledge sharing as well as distributing. Researchers have employed contents analysis for reviewing literatures in peer reviewed journals and interviews with the teachers who utilize OLR. In fact, researchers propose pervasive knowledge can address the need of integrating technologies like cloud computing, big data,Web 2.0, and SemanticWeb. Pervasive knowledge redefines value added, variety, volume, and velocity of OLR, which is flexible in terms of resources adoption, knowledge acquisition, and technological implementation.
Article
Purpose This paper aims to explore the relationship between face-to-face social networks and knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative data gathered through 25 semi-structured interviews in five manufacturing firms were collected and analysed. A grounded theory approach was used to analyse the data, which was supported through NVivo qualitative data analysis software. Findings The results reveal that face-to-face social networks facilitate knowledge sharing in diverse ways. These include the use of multiple communication styles, brainstorming and problem-solving, learning and teaching, training, consultations and employee rotation. Practical implications The findings of this research are expected to help practitioners to comprehend the big picture and scope of the steps they take to facilitate knowledge sharing in organisations. Viewing knowledge sharing from a holistic perspective can help practitioners comprehend how face-to-face knowledge sharing fits with and complements other knowledge-sharing channels, such as electronic social media and document repositories. In addition, through face-to-face social networks, practitioners can leverage work groups to increase knowledge sharing, meaning that potential cost savings and improved work practices can be achieved. Originality/value For researchers, three new models are developed which provide new insights into the nature of the relationship between face-to-face social networks and knowledge sharing. The first model relates to brainstorming and problem-solving, the second to knowledge levels and the direction of learning and teaching and the third to factors influencing social networks and knowledge sharing.
Article
Increasing organizations and educational institutions have implemented virtual learning communities to encourage knowledge sharing. Virtual Learning Community was able to serve the learning goals of community members by relying on the knowledge sharing. In this paper, some individual factors and environmental factors were used to study the knowledge sharing among community members. In virtual learning community, the sense of community and trust are important indicators for the development of community, and the members of mature community tend to have strong a sense of community and trust. Ten hypothesizes and the way of questionnaire survey were presented to explore the impact of social interaction, perceptual learning, trust, a sense of community and self-efficacy for knowledge sharing among members in community. The empirical results show that social interaction behavior between members has a significant role in promoting trust and a sense of belonging, and trust, a sense of community and a sense of self-efficacy among members has a significant effect to the knowledge sharing in virtual learning community, while a sense of self-efficacy among members in the virtual learning community is largely affected by the learning community perception.
Chapter
'I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell', writes Michael Polanyi, whose work paved the way for the likes of Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. "The Tacit Dimension", originally published in 1967, argues that such tacit knowledge - tradition, inherited practices, implied values, and prejudgments - is a crucial part of scientific knowledge. Back in print for a new generation of students and scholars, this volume challenges the assumption that skepticism, rather than established belief, lies at the heart of scientific discovery.
Article
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine knowledge-sharing phenomena from the perspective of recipients’ characteristics. Specifically, this study examines the influence of knowledge recipients’ competence, learning attitude and personal relationship with knowledge sharer on knowledge sharers’ willingness to share. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted two studies, a scenario experimental study and a field survey study to test their hypotheses about the effects of recipients’ characteristics on knowledge sharers’ willingness to share. Findings – The results revealed that recipients’ characteristics play different roles in different situations (responsive and proactive knowledge sharing) in triggering the knowledge sharers’ motivation to share. In responsive knowledge sharing, a recipient’s learning attitude and personal relationship with the knowledge sharer affected the sharer’s willingness to share. In proactive knowledge sharing, a recipient’s professional ability and personal relationship with the sharer significantly affected the sharer’s willingness to share. Research limitations/implications – The scenario experiment may suffer from the problem of social desirability and the external validity; this study only focuses on the simple main effect of knowledge recipients’ characteristics. Practical implications – First, managers should encourage employees to seek information and knowledge from other colleagues, and organizations could provide support for their interaction. Second, managers need to consider the composition of team members. Third, team managers may encourage each member to develop their own special skill or knowledge. Fourth, managers could make some efforts to develop a climate of trust among employees. Social implications – Some organization can also use practice like recognition of internal copyright or patent to protect employees’ new ideas or knowledge. Originality/value – First, this study clarifies the relationship between knowledge sharing and other working behaviors. Second, this study contributes to the understanding of how episodic factors affect working behaviors, which has been given little attention in previous research.
Article
Purpose – The aim of this inquiry is to uncover the pattern of knowledge-sharing behaviour among the undergraduate and postgraduate students of private universities in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach – This inquiry studied the knowledge-sharing pattern of undergraduate and graduate students by utilising a questionnaire-based open-ended survey from several private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Apart from the descriptive statistics, the research used t -test to further explain the data. Findings – This research focussed on seven areas of knowledge-sharing pattern. The data collected from 350 respondents from different private universities suggest that there are significant differences in the knowledge-sharing pattern between undergraduate and graduate students. Overall, this research documents that the postgraduate students have shown higher perceived attitudes towards knowledge sharing, compared to undergraduate students. Research limitations/implications – This research applied a descriptive study to understand knowledge-sharing patterns among undergraduate and postgraduate students, rather than a correlational study to ascertain the relationship among variables. Practical implications – This research has contributed to the knowledge-sharing research in several aspects. In fact, this study extended the research findings of Wei et al. (2012) by examining the patterns of knowledge sharing in a different socioeconomic environment. Although this research investigated the practice of knowledge sharing of undergraduate and postgraduate students by adapting the instrument of Wei et al. (2012), one of the significant contributions of this research is to explore the behavioural aspects of knowledge-sharing pattern among undergraduate and postgraduate students from different private universities in Bangladesh. By interpreting the knowledge-sharing pattern of undergraduate and postgraduate students of private universities, this inquiry will assist the government’s policymakers, management of individual universities and academicians to come up with novel methods of instruction and to transform the knowledge-driven higher learning establishment. Originality/value – The majority of studies on knowledge sharing have been conducted in an organisational context. This inquiry is one of few investigations to compare the knowledge-sharing patterns among undergraduate and postgraduate students in Bangladesh.
Article
This paper studies the transfer of tacit and explicit knowledge from foreign parents to international joint ventures (IJVs) and the impact of these two types of knowledge transfers on the performance of young and mature IJVs. We estimate a structural equation model using survey data from 334 Korean joint ventures and find support for our hypotheses regarding IJV age, knowledge transfers, and performance. Our results show that IJV age is positively associated with the transfer of tacit knowledge, but not with the transfer of explicit knowledge. In contrast, the transfer of tacit knowledge has a significant impact on the performance of both young and mature IJVs, while the transfer of explicit knowledge only has a significant effect on the performance of mature IJVs. These results confirm the important role of IJV age as a driver of knowledge transfers in IJVs, and as a moderator of their effects on performance.
Article
An extensive body of research has indicated the benefits of collaborative, contextualised and enquiry-based learning for teachers’ professional development and school improvement. Yet professional learning is also known to be constrained by a number of factors, including the organisational limitations of schools, conflicting cultural practices and wider political demands. Schools–university partnerships have been developed to overcome some of these difficulties by transcending particular school contexts and offering alternative theoretical and practical perspectives. The complex combination of motivations, backgrounds and working contexts in such partnership work calls for attention to the individual and collective learning experiences of those involved, including the ways in which school and university contexts are, or could be, effectively bridged. This paper focuses on understanding the learning experienced by a cohort of teachers and school leaders involved in a two-year schools–university partnership Master of Education (M.Ed.) course in England. A mixed group of 15 experienced primary and secondary teachers and school leaders reflected on their learning at five points of time during and shortly after completing their M.Ed. course. Qualitative analysis of the group’s interview responses and reflective writing led to the identification of six related aspects of personal and professional learning experience: being a learner; learning as part of professional practice; widening repertoire; changing as a learner; personal growth; and critically adaptive practice. The identification and visual representation of these aspects of experience emerging within the group offers useful insight into teachers’ perspectives on learning in school and university contexts and their experiences of progression over time. We conclude that more explicit and central attention to the professional and personal learning elements of schools–university partnerships can help to resolve some of the binary ‘theory–practice’ tensions that have been extensively discussed in relation to partnership programmes and teacher professional development. There is a need to acknowledge variation in teachers’ learning experiences within schools–university partnerships, bearing in mind the ongoing nature of this reflective process with each new group of school and university colleagues. Analysis of participants’ learning experiences in school and university contexts also draws attention to the wider structures, values and cultures that influence, and are influenced by, schools–university partnership work.
Article
The era in which learning was limited to a special class of people has long since reached its end. Rapid changes in information technology, which affect all aspects of modern life, make continuous learning an inevitable requirement of prosperity and development. Knowledge sharing plays a significant role in the process of learning. E-learning is the latest process of knowledge sharing in which people intentionally share what they have learned and receive the latest knowledge from the provider of e-learning. In this regard, knowledge sharing has a major impact on e-learning quality as the sharing of knowledge comprises the core process of e-learning. In this paper, the authors propose utilizing influential knowledge sharing indicators for e-learning quality assessment that can provide an informative basis for further studies on quality measurement of e-learning processes.
Article
This paper reports the findings collected from a four year longitudinal study aiming to investigate the professional learning of student-teachers in Bachelor of Education programmes. Four case studies which suggest a typology of ways of practicalising theoretical knowledge with one extreme as the testing out of teaching approaches mainly to find out their practicality in the school context to the other extreme whereby the student-teacher sought to work out a schema or personal theory were identified. Influences from the campus-based and the field-based components of the teacher education programme are drawn. The paper ends with implications for initial teacher education.
Article
Today reflection is considered one of the essential principles underlying good teaching practice and teacher education. However, this tacit acknowledgement that teachers need to be reflective practitioners and the development of reflective practice has largely been in the West. Teachers in Pakistan and most of the developing world are generally unaware of what the term ‘reflective practice’ means. This article presents findings of a study that was undertaken to observe course participants' uptake of an alternate approach to engaging students in reflective practice during a module offered to students in the Masters programme at the Aga Khan University–Institute for Educational Development, Karachi. It describes the practical ways in which students' reflections were generated during the module. It also presents various findings that emerged from these reflective activities, highlighting the successes and challenges of promoting reflection in the said manner. The article further identifies issues that need to be considered if reflective practice is to be nurtured in teacher education institutes in Pakistan and elsewhere in the developing world to ensure the development of reflective teachers.
Article
With social networking sites playing an increasingly important role in today's society, educators are exploring how they can be used as a teaching and learning tool. This article reports the findings of a qualitative case study about the integration of Ning into a blended course. The study draws on the perspectives of the students, the instructor and an outside observer to explore the intended and unintended outcomes of Ning use. As intended by the instructor, the site effectively served as an information repository and the blogs and discussion forums promoted reflection and review of each other's work. Unintended outcomes included community building and modeling, both of which are types of vicarious interaction that fall into the category of pedagogical lurking.
Article
Purpose This research paper proposes a method for selecting references related to a research topic, and seeks to exemplify it for the case of a study evaluating training programs. The method is designed to identify references with high academic relevance in databases accessed via the internet, using a bibliometric analysis to sift the selected articles. Design/methodology/approach The study is descriptive, in so far as its goal is to describe a method, and the nature of the paper is theoretical. The study incorporates an inductive logic, and draws on secondary data sources. The study combines qualitative and quantitative methods, and can therefore be described as mixed method. The research involves the application of a technical procedure. Findings The method employed sifted a large number of potential resources identified in a search of the internet and, after 11 stages in the proposed process, 11 papers were identified as being relevant to the research topic and highly cited. Descriptive statistics are provided of where those articles were published, how extensively the authors of those papers were published, the nature of the journals in which the papers appeared, and scientific recognition (number of citations). Originality/value The relevance of this work for HRD research is in the proposal for a structured process for identifying relevant academic articles relating to the research context, in the presentation of 11 highlighted articles in the area of training programs evaluation, in the identification of the main authors of this area of knowledge, and in the identification of the main journals that address the theme of the evaluation of training programs. Thus, practitioners, researchers and students can direct their attention to the articles, authors and journals that are most relevant to the theme of evaluation of training programs.
Article
A critical aspect of citizenship education is the preparation of students for an informed, responsible and participative role in the society. There is a widespread acceptance in literature that preparation for effective citizenship can be achieved through citizenship education at school that can help each new generation develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will equip them to have good life as adults and, as well as to become democratic citizens. This study therefore measures the extent to which citizenship knowledge, skills and attitudes are developed in grade ten students of private and government schools of Karachi, Pakistan for gauging the extent of preparedness of young learners for taking up their future roles as democratic citizens. To achieve the purpose of the research study, a cross-sectional survey with the aid of an adopted and modified questionnaire was conducted in 16 schools selected from 4 towns of Karachi through a one-stage stratified cluster sampling across school systems: Government and Private, to collect data from 267 grade ten students. The findings from the study although demonstrate that private school students have outperformed the government school students on citizenship knowledge, skills and attitudes but as a whole, students of both the school system are lagging behind in terms of citizenship knowledge, skills and attitudes to act as effective democratic citizens in future. This study has identified some opportunities and the inefficiency of schools in this context to provide such opportunities sufficiently to students, both inside and outside classrooms to enhance their citizenship learning, have caused them to lag behind in terms of citizenship knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to nurture them as democratic citizens. Finally, the study has revealed parents through their education and home literacy resources to act as significant predictor in enhancing citizenship learning of students. As such it has highlighted strong recommendations for parents and other stakeholders to be followed in order to cultivate children as informed and active citizens.
Article
The genre of academic writing is discipline dependent, so that neither specialists in academic writing nor practising academics in a discipline can, independently of each other, provide students with the necessary help to develop the ability to write in their academic disciplines. Furthermore, the rules are largely tacit, i.e. they are not explicitly expressed, and expressing them explicitly can have serious effects on good disciplinary writing. The problems of introducing students into good academic writing in their disciplines are therefore not simple and it is suggested that, as words constitute the fundamental building blocks of writing, a better understanding of the problems arising in academic writing can come from a deeper understanding of words, including their translation into different languages. It is furthermore suggested that the difficulties arising from the largely tacit nature of academic writing may be overcome by students and tutors discussing students' descriptions of their work. (Contains 4 notes.)
Article
For the construction industry to survive the current turbulence in the economic atmosphere, it has the option of integrating new initiatives to march the uncertainties. Programme management is seen as an efficient vehicle to successfully deliver the improvements and changes. However, the implementation of any new system or change initiatives has always been a challenging task; some of these challenges can be faced during the implementation or at practice stage. Programme management is not exempt from such challenges, in order to successfully implement and practice programme management, the knowledge of the major challenges associated to effective implementation and practice should not be left to serendipity or sagacity. Due to the lack of clarity surrounding programme management in the construction industry, the understanding of these major challenges remains vague. To provide a deeper insight into the major challenges to implementation and practice of construction programme management, this paper conducts both a pragmatic and theoretical study by triangulating literature, industrial questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. The research was conducted in the UK construction industry and other programme management sectors to analyse and exploit the knowledge of these challenges for effective implementation and practice of construction programmes. A total of 119 usable questionnaires were received and 17 semi-structured interviews were conducted, analysed and synthesised to provide a broader view on the major challenges and how to effectively implement and practice construction programmes.
Article
This paper aims to introduce some specific insights regarding social networks and the geographical proximity of firms in order to investigate factors involved in the innovation of firms. In particular, this study reviews ideas from the industrial district literature by analyzing the role played by the dimensions of social capital, that is, social interactions, trust, shared vision and involvement of local institutions, in the process and product innovation of firms inside the district. This paper draws on an analysis comparing district members and nonmembers based on a sample of 220 manufacturing firms in the Valencia Region (Spain). Findings suggest a positive association between district affiliation, social capital and involvement of local institutions and innovation that can offer relevant prescriptions for policy makers and individual entrepreneurs.
Article
Proponents have marketed e-learning by focusing on its adoption as the right thing to do while disregarding, among other things, the concerns of the potential users, the adverse effects on users and the existing research on the use of e-learning or related innovations. In this paper, the e-learning-adoption proponents are referred to as the technopositivists. It is argued that most of the technopositivists in the higher education context are driven by a personal agenda, with the aim of propagating a technopositivist ideology to stakeholders. The technopositivist ideology is defined as a ‘compulsive enthusiasm’ about e-learning in higher education that is being created, propagated and channelled repeatedly by the people who are set to gain without giving the educators the time and opportunity to explore the dangers and rewards of e-learning on teaching and learning. Ten myths on e-learning that the technopositivists have used are presented with the aim of initiating effective and constructive dialogue, rather than merely criticising the efforts being made.
Article
Globalization in higher education and the replacement of state funding of universities with “revenue substitution” strategies in western countries have resulted in an increasing number of universities in these countries participating in what has come to be known as transnational knowledge transfer without being better informed about the cultural contexts in which this knowledge is applied, resulting in many program failures and resistance in the recipient countries. One reason for this neglect is the difficulty involved in identifying which aspects of culture to select for study before implementing educational innovations in a recipient country. The study reported in this paper was undertaken as a curriculum inquiry to identify those aspects of culture, which affect, influence or mediate curriculum, pedagogy and teacher learning in South Asia, where an increasing number of western expatriates are engaged in international curriculum work. Three aspects of culture—namely, concepts of self, discursive practices and indigenous approaches to learning—which emerged as having significant influence on curriculum and teacher learning, and may help expatriate educators to provide educational experiences that are grounded in the cultural realities of South Asia are discussed. The paper draws briefly on post-structural, postcolonial theories, and enunciations of critical pedagogy to reflect on culture, education and resistance in international academic relations.
Article
As a Web 2.0 technology, blogs are gaining attention as useful knowledge sharing platforms for knowledge management in a collaborative work environment. This study investigates the relationship between trust and bloggers’ knowledge sharing practices. Based on an analysis of results from the 485 survey respondents, the research found that there is the positive relationship between bloggers’ trust and their knowledge sharing practices. This study explores trust in multiple dimensions including economy-based trust, trust in bloggers, and trust in the Internet and trust in blog providers. The detailed research findings are presented.
Conference Paper
Group learning plays an essential role in enhancing student understanding, sharing of knowledge and critical thinking. As a result, many institutions are adopting group learning as an alternative to traditional methods. However, there are still many challenges facing students learning in groups. These include lack of leadership, time and scheduling of workload, free riding, individual and social barriers, lack of team development, lack of motivation and social loafing. The integration of the mobile context and technologies in group learning can assist in minimizing some of these barriers. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) are believed to bring a transformation on teaching and learning processes through the facilitation of communication and interaction among teachers and learners. Researchers have also found that tacit knowledge has much greater importance to industry and academia. For instance, it allows individuals to achieve goals they personally value. It can be used to measure or predict job performance and those possessing it have been found to manage themselves and others better. This study investigates the extent to which students share tacit knowledge using the mobile phone in group projects and examines if they achieve better performance. One hundred and fifty (150) undergraduate students from different disciplines participated in the survey. The results show that not many students share tacit knowledge using mobile technology. Students in Information Systems (IS) shared relatively more tacit knowledge than those in the Computer Science (CS), Civil Engineering (CE) and Psychology (PSY) disciplines. They mainly shared practical experience on using presentation and project planning tools, web design applications or Microsoft Office. (CE) students shared the least of tacit knowledge using mobile technology. In addition, we discovered that students who share more tacit knowledge perform much better in group projects i.e., students in the IS discipline performed well. We also conducted tests to establish whether discipline has an effect on sharing of tacit knowledge. It was discovered that discipline may influence sharing of knowledge types e.g., TK1 (discuss project tasks and allocation of responsibilities) and TK2 (theoretical knowledge) and not TK3 (seeking clarification from Professors). Thus, the lack of tacit knowledge sharing observed in non-(IS) disciplines can be attributed to factors other than the nature of the discipline.
Article
We wished to further understand Transnational Knowledge Transfer (TKT) in a not-for-profit context. To accomplish this, we explored, verified, and mapped out the key factors affecting TKT using a four-component framework in the context of publically funded knowledge transfer (KT) projects. The Delphi technique was used to explore, identify, and verify the relevant key factors; 24 major factors were identified in the first round and more than half of the experts agreed on the top 10 key factors in the second round. In addition, a number of new factors were identified and some findings that contradicted prior research were revealed. Our findings can help practitioners develop a more focused approach in dealing with the most significant factors (or bottlenecks) in KT.
Article
Professional virtual communities (PVCs) bring together geographically dispersed, like-minded people to form a network for knowledge exchange. To promote knowledge sharing, it is important to know why individuals choose to give or to receive knowledge with other community members. We identified factors that were considered influential in increasing community knowledge transfer and examined their impact in PVCs. Data collected from 323 members of two communities were used in our structural equation modeling (SEM). The results suggested that norm of reciprocity, interpersonal trust, knowledge sharing self-efficacy, and perceived relative advantage were significant in affecting knowledge sharing behaviors in PVCs. The knowledge contributing and collecting behaviors were positively related to knowledge utilization. Furthermore, while the collecting behavior had a significant effect on community promotion, the influence of contributing behavior on community promotion was limited.
Article
Blogs have emerged as an innovative tool for sharing information and knowledge, and they command significant interest from information technology IT users as well as providers. Our study establishes a research framework to provide an understanding of the factors affecting knowledge sharing among bloggers in online social networks. The research results indicate that bloggers' trust, strength of social ties, and reciprocity all have a positive effect on their knowledge-sharing behavior. Further, the impact of each factor on such behavior varies by gender. Our results provide evidence that offline expected social norms tend to persist in the online blogosphere and that gender differences need to be considered as a significant factor in understanding the IT usage behavior in the context of social capital theory. For IT managers and blog service providers, our results also highlight the importance of being gender aware in an effort to elicit participation from all constituent members for the successful adoption and usage of blogs as a knowledge-sharing mechanism.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the approaches of international organizations to fostering knowledge management. Design/methodology/approach Two different approaches are used: First, presenting case studies on the United Nations Development Programme, the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the World Bank, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the OECD and the European Commission. Second, evaluation of the progress of the respective approaches by using common test criteria for knowledge management implementation established in the literature. Findings It was found that all the institutions covered in this contribution have passed the stage of information management and have put active knowledge management systems in place. However, a structured and systematic management of implicit and external knowledge can be found to a lesser extent. Only a few international organizations like UNDP or the World Bank have pushed their knowledge management systems to integrate both internal and external, explicit and implicit knowledge. The results show clearly that most international organizations still show much room for improvement regarding their information and knowledge management system. Research limitations/implications The study was the first of its kind to look into information and knowledge management in international organizations. The contribution can be used as a starting‐point for further in‐depth work and as a blueprint for designing knowledge management systems in other international bodies. Practical implications The findings from the study may be used by various practitioners including knowledge managers in international organizations, knowledge management professionals and university researchers. Originality/value The paper represents the first documented attempt to review information and knowledge management in international organizations.
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine the association between the strength of different types of ties with the sharing of different kinds of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach In this paper the association of ties with the sharing of different types of knowledge was measured by a specifically created and developed web survey that was made available to 22 units in the subject organization. Multiple Regression Quadratic Assignment Procedure (MRQAP) was used to examine the resulting data in order to address the following questions: first, is there a significant association between strength of business ties and the sharing of public knowledge? Second, is there a significant association between strength of social ties and the sharing of private knowledge? Findings Findings in this paper show that the strength of business relationships rather than the strength of social relationships contributed most significantly to the sharing of public and private knowledge in this organization. Specifically, the frequency of business interactions predicted the sharing of public non‐codified knowledge, while the closeness of business relationships predicted the sharing of private non‐codified knowledge and the sharing of public codified knowledge. Unexpectedly, neither business nor social ties predicted the sharing of private codified knowledge. Research limitations/implications The paper shows that one organization belonging to a certain type of business was studied, and these results might be more relevant in the setting of similar business organizations that have similarities in their contexts and profiles with this organization. Practical implications The results in this paper may assist organizations in rethinking the ways of approaching certain types of knowledge sharing in their strategic and infrastructural decisions and their application. Organizations might invest in promoting inter‐unit exchanges and in creating meaningful social nets for more innovative products and better performance. Originality/value This paper makes a distinct contribution to the available body of research on how social networks in organizations operate in sharing knowledge. The paper provides answers to a number of research questions that have not been addressed thus far in the literature; this study also provides fresh insights into the investigation of patterns of association and prediction.
Article
Knowledge sharing is recognised as one of the most critical components of knowledge management. Successful and efficient knowledge sharing could directly facilitate knowledge creation and so help a firm to maintain its competitive advantage. Consequently, identifying which factors could encourage or inhibit people to share knowledge is potentially of great value. In this study, we explore the impact of selected socio-cultural factors, viz. trust, guanxi orientation and face, on the intention to share explicit and tacit knowledge in Chinese firms. Two hundred and four employees from Chinese organisations were surveyed on their knowledge-sharing practices. Our findings indicate that while cognition-based trust has no significant effect on the intention to share either tacit or explicit knowledge, affect-based trust has a significant effect on both. Meanwhile, face-gaining behaviours have a positive effect, while face-saving behaviours have a negative effect on the intention to share knowledge. Finally, guanxi orientation also has a strong impact on knowledge sharing. The implications of these findings for organisations and their knowledge management initiatives are discussed.
Book
Japanese companies have become successful because of their skill and expertise at creating organizational knowledge. Organizational knowledge is not only the creation of new knowledge, but also disseminating it throughout the organization, and embodying it in products, services, and systems. Knowledge is the new competitive resource, and its creation and utilization is a dynamic, interactive process. Knowledge is used as the basic unit of analysis to explain firm behavior; a business creates and processes knowledge. Knowledge may be explicit or tacit; this study treats them as complements that form a dynamic relationship. The individual interacts with the organization through knowledge; knowledge creation occurs at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The forms of knowledge interaction (between tacit and explicit, and between individual and firm) produce four major processes of knowledge conversion: from tacit to explicit, explicit to explicit, explicit to tacit, and tacit to tacit. Japanese companies create new knowledge by converting tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. The book has three goals: to formalize a generic model of organizational knowledge creation, explain why certain Japanese companies have been continuously successful in innovation, and develop a universal model of company management based on convergence of knowledge practices in Japan and the world. First presents a philosophical exposition of knowledge and its application to managemen, then the core concepts of knowledge creation, with four modes of knowledge conversion. The Matsushita company is used to illustrate the process model of organization knowledge creation. The two traditional styles of management (top-down and bottom-up) are shown not to be effective in fostering the dynamic necessary to create organizational knowledge, and a new organization structure considered most conducive to knowledge creation is proposed. (TNM)
Article
“I shall reconsider human knowledge by starting from the fact that we can know more than we can tell,” writes Michael Polanyi, whose work paved the way for the likes of Thomas Kuhn and Karl Popper. The Tacit Dimension argues that tacit knowledge—tradition, inherited practices, implied values, and prejudgments—is a crucial part of scientific knowledge. Back in print for a new generation of students and scholars, this volume challenges the assumption that skepticism, rather than established belief, lies at the heart of scientific discovery. “Polanyi’s work deserves serious attention. . . . [This is a] compact presentation of some of the essentials of his thought.”—Review of Metaphysics “Polanyi’s work is still relevant today and a closer examination of this theory that all knowledge has personal and tacit elements . . . can be used to support and refute a variety of widely held approaches to knowledge management.”—Electronic Journal of Knowledge "The reissuing of this remarkable book give us a new opportunity to see how far-reaching—and foundational—Michael Polanyi's ideas are, on some of the age-old questions in philosophy."—Amartya Sen, from the new Foreword
Article
This paper contributes with empirical findings to European co-inventorship location and geographical coincidence of co-patenting networks. Based on EPO co-patenting information for the reference period 2000-2004, we analyze the spatial con figuration of 44 technology-specific co-inventorship networks. European co-inventorship (co-patenting) activity is spatially linked to 1259 European NUTS3 units (EU25+CH+NO) and their NUTS1 regions by inventor location. We extract 7.135.117 EPO co-patenting linkages from our own relational database that makes use of the OECD RegPAT (2009) files. The matching between International Patent Classification (IPC) subclasses and 44 technology fields is based on the ISI-SPRU-OST-concordance. We con firm the hypothesis that the 44 co-inventorship networks differ in their overall size (nodes, linkages, self-loops) and that they are dominated by similar groupings of regions. The paper offers statistical evidence for the presence of highly localized European co-inventorship networks for all 44 technology fields, as the majority of linkages between NUTS3 units (counties and districts) are within the same NUTS1 regions. Accordingly, our findings helps to understand general presence of positive spatial autocorrelation in regional patent data. Our analysis explicitly accounts for different network centrality measures (betweenness, degree, eigenvector). Spearman rank correlation coefficients for all 44 technology fields confirm that most co-patenting networks co-locate in those regions that are central in several technology-specific co-patenting networks. These findings support the hypothesis that leading European regions are indeed multi- filed network nodes and that most research collaboration is taking place in dense co-patenting networks. --
Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School
  • A Hargreaves
  • M Fullan
Hargreaves, A. and Fullan, M. (2012), Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School, Teachers College Press, New York, NY.
  • Levine J.M.