Current attempts to answer the questions of how learning can be nurtured within projects; and, how it can be shared within the supply chain make a conscious stance in support of one of two seemingly conflicting perspectives. These are; a first generation knowledge management systems perspective, or a second generation socialisation perspective. This study shrewdly identifies that to categorically anchor to simply one perspective is fundamentally flawed. It is a strategy which regards each as mutually exclusive and therefore negates the advantages of its opposition. Each perspective is suited to differing needs. A first generation perspective satisfies the desire of organisations to create a tangible representation of their knowledge base. However, purely focusing on this need ignores the requirement of socialisation, which is essential for effective tacit knowledge transfer. This has astutely been identified as causing cycles of disillusionment due to its inevitable inability to perform effective knowledge sharing. In comparison, a purely second generation approach fails to satisfy the desire to produce a tangible resource base, which thus reduces the incentives for organisations to provide vital socialisation opportunities. It has been widely acknowledged that learning within projects is needed to make strides towards continuous improvement. If this is not the case, the industry will continue to repeat flawed practices or continuously reinvent solutions unnecessarily. This is resulting in significant inefficiencies within the industry, reduced quality outputs and supplying reduced value. Furthermore, it is not simply the case that learning within individual phases of the construction lifecycle, or within organisations will realise these benefits. For true efficiency benefits to be realised, knowledge and learning from projects has to be shared throughout the supply chain. This research s contribution has been established through the development of a feedback framework predominantly between construction and design teams throughout a project s lifecycle. The framework provides the capability to transfer lessons to not only individual organisations, but across organisational boundaries also. It seeks to improve internal knowledge management through incorporating critical facets such as live capture, multimedia formats and the ability to network with other knowledge owners/seekers. Accordingly, this project has made a significant theoretical contribution through identifying the ability and need to combine first and second generation knowledge management perspectives.

Small business restaurants represent a significant segment of the U.S. economy; however, many small business restaurants fail before 5 years of operation. The purpose of this exploratory multiple case study was to explore the strategies entrepreneurs used to sustain operations beyond 5 years. The population for this study was 3 Latin American immigrant small business restaurant owners in the central part of the U.S. state of Georgia, who had sustained operations for more than 5 years. The conceptual framework consisted of entrepreneurship and knowledge management theories. The data derived from semistructured interviews and organizational documents presented by the participants. Data analysis involved using a modified van Kaam method and qualitative analysis software to identify and analyze emergent themes. The 3 themes were cultivation of ego-networks, human capital development, and engaged entrepreneurial activities. The findings from this study suggest that small business owners enhance their external social network, advance the human capital of employees and the entrepreneur, and apply entrepreneurial orientation practices. Using study findings, small business restaurant owners may be better able to have sustainable businesses and, thus, contribute to their local communities' economic and social well-being. Implications for positive social change include the potential to prevent the economic and socially damaging effects of business failures and unemployment as well as the potential to cultivate a skilled U.S. Latin American workforce, through the advancement of human capital.

Orientador: Carlos Cândido de Almeida / Banca: Daniel Martínez-Ávila / Banca: Daniel Abraão Pando / Resumo: Este estudo objetivou analisar o potencial informativo do campo da música sob a perspectiva da semiótica de Charles Sanders Peirce, assim como identificar autores, fundamentos teóricos e teorias que apontem estudos envolvendo o campo da música e a organização do conhecimento. A música se apresenta como um campo de diversas possibilidades informativas, compreendendo além de documentos e seus dados, o fenômeno observado por meio da experiência e do processo cognitivo. Para tanto, foi realizada uma pesquisa bibliográfica baseando-se em publicações científicas na área da Música, Organização do conhecimento e Semiótica. Por meio dessa pesquisa foi possível compreender que a música apresenta significados subjetivos que estão relacionados ao contexto social e experiências humanas já vivenciadas. Dessa forma foi possível compreender que as informações musicais estão intimamente relacionadas ao contexto social em que o ser humano está inserido, pois é nele que, por meio do processo cognitivo se constrói o conhecimento. / Abstract: This study aimed to analyze the informative potential of the field of music from the perspective of the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce. The music presents itself as a field of diverse informative possibilities, comprising besides documents and its data, the phenomenon observed through the experience and the cognitive process, as well as to identify authors, theoretical foundations and theories that point out studies involving the field of music and the knowledge Organization. For this, a bibliographic research was carried out based on scientific publications in the area of Music, knowledge Organization and Semiotics. Through this research it was possible to understand that music presents subjective meanings that are related to the social context and human experiences already experienced. In this way it was possible to understand that the musical information is closely related to the social context in which the human being is inserted, because it is in him that, through the cognitive process, knowledge is constructed. / Mestre

No description available.

It is widely believed that with the transition from the industrial to information-based economics, organizational knowledge has emerged as the single most critical resource at both macro and micro levels, which promotes the creation, sharing, and leveraging of the organization???s knowledge in current Customer Order Driven Engineering (CODE) environment. Insufficient knowledge management, hence lack of a structured Enterprise Knowledge Base (EKB) in a CODE environment, whilst involved in New Product Development (NPD) process may result in several problems resulting in creating less successful products. This research establishes an ???Enterprise Knowledge Base (EKB) framework??? with focus on the Product, Process and Organizational issues related to the NPD process. The framework has three major stages, namely ???Knowledge Acquisition???, ???Knowledge Organizing??? and ???Knowledge Validating???. Various frameworks/methods/models are developed as steps for each of these stages. The framework may increase the effectiveness of product and process development as well as enterprise competitiveness through developing a system architecture to understand, analyse and map organisational, operational activities and business objectives; and increasing the ability of an organisation to establish an integrated partnerships to share efforts on the design, manufacture and delivery of products. In knowledge acquisition stage, a ???Knowledge Capture framework??? and the ???Relationship matrices??? are developed to analyse and link the generic knowledge items of a NPD process in concurrent engineering environment. Among the relationship matrices, Task versus Task (Design Structure Matrix - DSM) matrix is comprehensively explored and decomposed to structure and link several processes at different levels for effective representation of the overall enterprise representation. In knowledge organizing stage, the acquired knowledge (important relations identified in the Task versus Task matrices) is represented in the form of ???Questionnaires???. Best practices gathered from several manufacturing firms in NPD in CODE have also been used as knowledge resource base for the Questionnaires. For grouping and validation of these Questionnaires, an ???Assessment Model??? is developed, which consists of five performance indicators of the organization namely ???Marketing???, ???Technical???, ???Financial???, ???Resource Management???, and ???Project Management???. Industry applications are carried out in two Australian Manufacturing Companies for the validation of the acquired knowledge. Two tests are carried out; in order to assess the sensitivity of question categories followed by another test to observe whether the model can accurately display the overall performance of the company in the five categories of NPD phases. These two tests have identified possible improvement areas in the NPD process of manufacturing organizations involved in the validation phase. Up to 80% of the findings of the EKB framework and assessment model were found to reflect the actual practices of the organizations.

The purpose of this study is to develop a better understanding of strategic paths to knowledge management in small and medium-sized hotels. This thesis has formulated a path knowledge concept and developed a PathFinder model. The formulation of the path knowledge concept and the development of the PathFinder model are based on an empirical investigation through the conduct of thirteen face-to-face in-depth interviews with owners/managers in small and medium-sized hotels. The interview data were analysed with the use of a purpose-built database and Structured Query Language for data manipulation. This study has identified four broad types of paths to knowledge management in small and medium-sized hotels. A hotel's choice of a path to knowledge management is essentially dependent on two defining aspects, the sources of revenue generation and knowledge management activities. The path knowledge concept reflects the growth visions of small and medium-sized hotels, whe re knowledge management is practised unconsciously as part of the integrated business operation. The PathFinder model represents the intentions of small and medium-sized hotels with regard to certain paths to knowledge management as influenced by various internal and external resources. The model provides strategic level decision making options for knowledge management and the basis for the development of future additions.

This dissertation focuses on conceptual frameworks from which to study information systems knowledge management (ISKM). Knowledge management (KM) is an emergent discipline arising from a breadth of fields with conflicting definitions and approaches to applying KM processes. The diversity of approaches is symptomatic of the need for development of theoretical foundations that provide a deeper understanding of the knowledge phenomena in organisations, and for KM methodologies grounded in such theoretical foundations. The study highlights conflicting tensions on various sensemaking levels, such as that between individual need for creativity and flexibility against organisational need for regulatory standardisation, and demonstrates the need for organisations to seek answers to these challenges within their own cultural setting. / Doctor of Philosphy (PhD)

Knowledge Management has captured the attention of management and IT vendors are hastily bringing products to market. The interest in Knowledge Management is understandable given the moves towards knowledge based economies and workplaces. Large organisations have begun to understand the value of the knowledge held within their organisation. Nowadays, the value of an organisation may be based on its intellectual capital and this is demonstrated by organisations being sold for many times its worth in terms of hard assets. The concept of being able to store and use the 'knowledge' that is generated inside an organisation has obvious appeal. However, the management of this 'knowledge' and the ability to use it for an advantage requires careful planning and an understanding of knowledge inside the organisation and its workers. This process requires a mix of organisational, cultural and technology understanding. Current research and vendor interest is focussing on large organisations. However, Small to Medium size Enterprises (SMEs) also have an explicit need to manage their intellectual capital. Research interest in large organisations is strong, but SMEs cannot always use the findings that are targeted to large organisations and will probably be unable to afford the specific Knowledge Management tools offered by vendors. Nevertheless, SMEs can use the knowledge in their organisations to gain an advantage. In particular, the tourism industry has a significant knowledge component and Knowledge Management could provide substantial benefits. Many Knowledge Management principles apply to organisations irrespective of their size. How these can be implemented within a SME is the subject of this thesis.

Organisational learning and knowledge management theories are illustrated in this study as converging around discussion of three major themes: the role of the individual in the knowledge of the organisation; the increasing problematisation of the nature of knowledge; and debate over the role of mental models and organisational schema in the learning of the individual and organisation. In this study it is argued that these themes are aligned with central themes in complexity theories, and complexity is posited as an appropriate lens through which organisational experience might be viewed. The confluent themes and complexity underpin a methodological approach that is inspired by grounded theory, but which recognises the value that complexity provides as a sensitising device to the research. Narrative methods are used to collect data and participants' sense-making informs the researcher's analysis of the results. The emergence of a complex adaptive systems heuristic from the analysis of the collective narratives provides a ground for exploration of organisational members' experience using the grammar of complexity. This exploration leads to discussion of the ways in which complexity accommodates the consideration of learning and knowledge within a single frame. While the experience of organisational members in many ways reflects the properties and mechanisms of complex adaptive systems, in this study the theory does not adequately describe the nature of their learning and knowledge development in the organisation. In this exploration, tension between the formal organisation and the emergent organisation leads to a disconnect between the local learning of members in interaction and the knowledge of the organisation. The nesting feature of complex adaptive systems, where levels of aggregation build hierarchy, is not apparent in this study and this finding is discussed as having important implications for learning and knowledge sharing in the organisation. In addition, the participants of this study do not describe their learning as simply mechanical, involving the building and rebuilding of mental models, as complex adaptive systems would suggest. Learning is described as far more elaborate than the theory immediately implies. The findings of the study provide insight into the relationship between learning and knowledge in organisations through the lens of complexity as well as providing some input into developing theories of complexity. These insights are discussed with reference to the literatures across organisational learning, knowledge management and workplace learning fields and a number of implications for practice are suggested as a result. The study supports the integration of organisational learning and knowledge within a single theoretical frame and points to more integrated organisational practice. That learning and knowledge management in organisations should remain discrete in practice is at odds with the theory and with the findings of this study.

This study explores the Malaysian understanding and definition of the concept and terminology of organisational learning (OL) as well as the learning strategies and practices Malaysian organisations use to implement learning. As part of Malaysia's Vision 2020, the government has made a substantial and public commitment to promoting organisational learning to assist industry move to a first world economy status. A number of authors have defined organisational learning as a process of knowledge acquisition that involves continuous change to create, acquire, and transfer knowledge (Garvin 1993; Miller 1996; Williams 2001). The objective is to explore if this conceptualisation has been accepted and implemented within Malaysia and if not, where opportunities exist to improve both the understanding and practice of Organisational Learning. The study explores the understanding of OL and the learning strategies practiced by Malaysian organisations. In-depth interviews were conducted among human resources managers, executives, professors and lecturers from the manufacturing, health, government and academic sectors in Malaysia. The information gathered was analysed using Nudist (v6) software to interrogate and explore similarities and differences in responses within and across the sectors. Trends emerging from the data were drawn together to present a picture of what happens in practice and to identify opportunities to improve and better manage the implementation of organisational learning and knowledge management strategies. The results suggest Malaysian industry representatives were, in general, able to define OL as a concept, however there was variable evidence that it is being implemented effectively in organisations. The manufacturing respondents had a higher level of understanding of OL than other industries. In practice, learning strategies also vary; health organisations emphasize seminars and conferences, the manufacturing sector emphasizes experiential learning, government departments focus more on attachment and exposure, whereas academic respondents were more reliant on self-learning. Overall, the most popular learning strategy is structured training and development programs, which suggests more needs to be done to inculcate learning strategies within the various industries. Those industries with stronger implementation patterns favoured a specialist department to provide a hub for handling knowledge and skills acquisition, for both internal and external learning sources. In contrast, the understanding of knowledge management was much lower, and indeed, the term was unfamiliar to some respondents. These findings may be limited due to the small size of the sample and the findings being from a management perspective. Nonetheless, given the government's strong commitment to organisational learning and the current lack of empirical industry studies within Malaysia, this study serves as a benchmark. It does identify that the uptake of OL is still relatively limited and more needs to be achieved to promote a greater understanding of OL if it is to be successfully implemented in Malaysia.