The era of the knowledge-driven economy has arrived. This economy - based on what people know and are willing to share - requires an ability to find and utilise appropriate knowledge quickly and effectively. Managing knowledge is however, complex and multifaceted. In addition, a history of treating different types of information as discrete entities means that no one profession or function has taken responsibility for this process. The library and information science (LIS) profession in particular, has not even formulated a clear role for itself in this process. This dissertation asks the question why this profession - skilled in the acquisition and distribution of information - is not actively engaged in the debate. It seeks to gain an understanding of the roles, skills and competencies needed for managing knowledge and assesses the implications for the LIS profession, if its members want to play a significant part in this process. Research reflects internationally based theory and opinions. In addition, it provides empirical evidence that the majority of the sample of LIS professionals participating in this study do not play a significant role in the knowledge management environment in South African based companies. / Dr. J. A. Kok

M.Comm. (Human Resources Management) / The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of knowledge sharing as an intervention geared toward improving employee engagement. In the process of pursuing this purpose, literature on employee engagement and knowledge sharing was reviewed. The literature reviews culminated in the development of operational models for both employee engagement and knowledge sharing and an illustration of the link between these two multi-dimensional constructs. The employee engagement research instrument consisting of a 12-item questionnaire and a 5-point Likert scale was developed in line with theoretical requirements. The research was located within an undisclosed provincial government department in Gauteng, South Africa. This was done to ensure the confidentiality of the participants and the specific government department concerned as disclosure could possibly compromise the political sensitivity of the activities of the department. A sample of one-hundred 100 employees was selected from an available population of 189. The research consisted of three phases; a baseline survey, which sought to establish the existing level of employee engagement, an intervention phase, conducted over a three day period consisting of eight knowledge sharing interventions, and a post-assessment phase, which endeavoured to establish if any differences to the level of engagement would be evident, when compared to the pre-assessment state of engagement. The study found no significant difference between the pre and post test scores of the experimental group and concluded that knowledge sharing does not have a significant impact on increasing the level of employee engagement. It further concluded that despite not being significant that the greatest impact was evident in the cognitive dimension of employee engagement. This study goes on to recommend that further longitudinal intervention research studies are needed to establish the impact of the different motivators that drive fluctuations in the level of employee engagement. The study also recommended that a theoretically reliable instrument be developed, which targets all dimensions of employee engagement (the physical, emotional and cognitive components). The instrument will allow for the establishment of existing levels of employee engagement and an indication of areas of improvement to ensure targeted interventions are conceived.

M.B.A. / The aim of this research study was to understand the needs of knowledge workers and to determine if the current reward system is appropriate to promote the objectives of a knowledge intensive organisation. The objectives of this study were to identify factors that motivate and satisfy knowledge workers, to determine if monetary or non monetary reward is of, greater value, to establish the benefits and shortcomings of the existing reward system in the organisation and to recommend changes to the reward system within a knowledge organisation.

Successful enterprises are those that consistently create new knowledge, disseminate it widely throughout the enterprise and quickly embed it in new technologies and products. These ‘knowledge-creating’ enterprises understand what knowledge is and what they should do to exploit it. In other words, they successfully manage and share their knowledge throughout their enterprise. When launching a knowledge management initiative, it is important to identify which knowledge management processes are most relevant to the enterprise’s environment and systems, and steps should be taken to support these activities and integrate them into daily operations. Broader elements and issues should also be identified and recognised for the influence they have on the knowledge management process. For example that enterprises should encourage individuals to interact, to work together on projects, or to share their ideas on an informal basis and systems are needed to codify the knowledge of individuals so that others can use it. Applying these elements involves: information technology; formal and informal structures; and specific knowledge management tools. Another important factor in the success of a knowledge management project is to ground knowledge management and knowledge sharing within the context of the enterprise’s business strategy seeing that the intranet can assist in the creation of economic value and competitive advantage for the enterprise. The knowledge sharing or knowledge contribution part of the knowledge management process seems to be the most difficult for enterprises. Knowledge sharing often takes place in enterprises via employees’ informal networks. Knowledge management could turn this informal, ad hoc process into a more systematic process. Creating a corporate culture where knowledge is valued and shared effectively is a challenge. Part of the solution could be for an enterprise to be aware of their specific corporate culture and how it influences their behaviour and attitude towards knowledge sharing. Because the employee’s behaviour determines the sharing of knowledge, leadership has an important role to play and they could use various motivational practices to encourage knowledge sharing. Leadership should commit to creating an environment, within which employees are able to share, assess and experiment with new knowledge gained. The corporate intranet could be used as such an environment, but employees need to be trained to use their knowledge management IT tools, making it as easy as possible for employees to contribute to the enterprise knowledge base. Effective intranet usage should be embedded in the enterprise’s general corporate and knowledge sharing culture. The intranet should be seen as an essential part of the enterprise’s knowledge management system and should be designed to suit and enhance the enterprise knowledge sharing activities and culture. It is also important that intranets should be evaluated regularly to determine its current contribution to as well as future potential of the knowledge sharing capability of the enterprise. The importance of evaluating and measuring the enterprise intranet and various measurement tools were discussed in depth, which consequently led to the formulation of an intranet evaluation tool in the form of a questionnaire. The prototype questionnaire was compiled by using measurement tools developed previously. The questionnaire brought together the concepts of knowledge management, knowledge sharing cultures and intranet functionalities. The evaluation tool was then applied to measure the effectiveness of a management consulting business’s intranet in enhancing the enterprise’s knowledge sharing culture. Recommendations were made to enterprises use the questionnaire when using the questionnaire in similar environments. An intranet represents a tool of potentially high value to any enterprise, but in order to realise this value, the intranets should be properly measured and managed and every employee needs to take ownership and buy into the concept of the intranet as a knowledge sharing enabler. This calls for an employee to be motivated to participate in knowledge sharing, so that they can experience the value they could add and receive by using the intranet for knowledge sharing activities. / Prof. P.A. van Brakel Mnr. J.A. Kok

No description available.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / Indigenous knowledge systems (IKSs) have made positive contributions in agriculture; health care; medicine; food preparation and preservation; land use; education and a host of other activities in rural communities as well as in urban ones (Warren, 1991:26). Yet hardly a day goes by when an elderly man or woman does not die with all the wealth of knowledge, which is then buried beyond recovery. Therefore, there is a need for institutions, which are in the business of information like libraries and/or information centers to manage (collect, document, organize, store, disseminate) the indigenous knowledge for potential contribution in present and future endeavours. Ngulube (2002: 96) rightly points out that the loss of IK will “impoverish society”.The main aim of the study was to explore the issue if indigenous knowledge within the library and information sector, specifically within the Swaziland National Library Service; investigate if IK is managed; determine how it can best be managed in order to contribute positively to the community; and identify ways to best manage it. This study adopted the qualitative research methodology using the triangulation method, which allows the use of different data collection techniques.The study found that Swaziland National Library Service (SNLS) manages IK, but at a very low level. Lack of funds is one major issue that has been voiced as the biggest hindrance to Indigenous Knowledge Management and that Library and information professionals are not adequately trained to manage IK. The study also discovered that Library and information services in Swaziland are still very much book-based and very much westernized, such that only a select elite is catered for by the current services. Intellectual property rights are not dealt with, with respect to IK.From the findings, this study recommends that Library and information professionals include indigenous knowledge in the existing collection development policies or must design collection development policies that include IK. / South Africa

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The core traditional functions of the library namely collecting, processing, disseminating, storing and the utilization of documented information in order to supply information services and resources, have changed. In the information / knowledge society era, the library manages both external and internal knowledge of the host organization. This can be achieved through the process of collection of relevant information, processing, organizing and dissemination to ensure that information / knowledge contents housed in the library are retrievable and accessible to the targeted audience, using various dissemination channels. Librarians ensure that the targeted audiences are equipped with the skills to locate, evaluate, and use available and useful information / knowledge effectively, by providing information literacy training to them. Studies have found the visibility of librarians in the knowledge management environment to be very low and the utilization of their skills to be minimal. Therefore, this study investigated the practice of knowledge management by ministerial librarians in Namibia. The study relied on the Bukowitz and Williams Knowledge Management (KM) framework (2000). This framework is appropriate to the study because it consists of different stages (GET, USE, LEARN, CONTRIBUTE, ASSESS, BUILD / SUSTAIN, AND DIVEST) that address the themes of the focus of the study,thus making it relevant to effective and efficient knowledge management in an enterprise such as the government ministries.The method of data collection and analysis employed was qualitative, with semi structured interviews. The results of the study revealed that few ministerial librarians are practicing knowledge management by ensuring that they are identifying, capturing, evaluating, retrieving, and sharing the ministry’s knowledge/information assets, for it to add value and improve the performance of employees as they contribute to the strategic missions of the ministries. Viewed from that perspective, the findings reveal some barriers which prohibit ministerial librarians to effectively practice knowledge management, which among of them include: inadequate training; limited resources for ICT infrastructure adaption and purchasing of resources meeting the needs of the ministry; staffing shortage, bureaucratic system, and others. Based on the findings, the researcher therefore recommends that certain measures need to be put in place to address the short comings to effective knowledge management so that ministerial librarians are able to render services to their users for them to become independent lifelong learners.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The increasing importance of media, especially digital media in society has been studied widely, from identity formation to activist movements. In international relations, digital media studies have focused considerably on public digital diplomacy and social networks, sometimes neglecting a crucial step: the making, the processing and the transmission of the sacrosanct and secret diplomatic data. This study aims to explore how digital revolutions impact on the way diplomats communicate and share information. The dependent question will revolve around the notion of secrecy; the independent question will analyse secrecy in the era of digital diplomacy. A statistical database was built and semi-structured interviews with American, French and South African diplomats have been conducted. It aims to highlight three thematic fields. The first one looks into organization, legitimacy, sovereignty and governance issues raised by the emergence of new technologies. The second one looks into the redefinition of secrecy in our digital era. The third part is a case study that will investigate how software, open platforms and processing of computerized data redefine, modernize and legitimize the way diplomats work, share information and engage with the general public for the greater good. The main assumption is that public action will only be legitimate in society if – and only if – society recognizes the state as a true network actor.

The main research problem in this study was to identify strategies that could assist South Afrian companies in managing knowledge workers for their opt imal benefit . To achieve this goal, the following act ions were ta ken: Aliterature study was conducted to identify the best strategies that South African companies could use to manage knowledge workers for optimal benefit; Following the literature review interviews were concluded with key people in the human resource and recruitment industry to determine how a knowledge worker was defined in their organisations as well as to probe what management and human resources strategies were used to manage knowledge workers to their full potential; The interviews, in addition to the literature study, also served as a basis for a survey questionnaire, which was used to probe the views of knowledge workers to determine tools and strategies managers use to manage them. The empirical results from the study showed some concurrence with best strategies suggested from the theoret ical study. In essence, the study revealed that knowledge was well managed in the organisations where the study was conducted and that the knowledge workers were motivated and productive. However, it appeared that there was uncer tainty around the remuneration, rewards and recognition of these employees, which could ultimately reflect in less promising levels of commitment and lower levels of retention. The main findings were that: knowledge workers should be recognised for their good performance by providing financial incentives; knowledge workers should be provided with opportunities to continuously develop their competencies but be allowed to craft their own developmental experiences; knowledge workers should be empowered by delegat ing tasks to them that carry decision making responsibility and af fectinnovation; and Managers and knowledge workers should cont inuously have performance and organisational development discussions.

Globally, organisations have recognised the strategic importance of knowledge management (KM) and are increasingly focusing their efforts on practices to foster the creation, sharing and integration of knowledge. Whilst most research in Knowledge Management (KM) has focused on the private sector, there is a breadth of potential applications of KM theory and practice for government agencies to adopt in search of resolving pertinent problems. The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the effectiveness of knowledge management towards collaborative problem solving in government. What is missing is research-based evidence of the factors that influence the main factors for knowledge sharing across government agencies. Given this gap, the researcher addresses the research question: In government agencies mandated to resolve issues of crime, what are the key factors required which support and influence the collaborative sharing culture? Upon analysing the data, the researcher found the following key factors as being determinants on knowledge management: organisational culture, learning organisation, collaboration, subject matter experts and trust. The two factors – organisational culture and learning organisation were identified as the most significant factors which lay as the root or core for the ‘knowledge tree’. Once these roots are in place, the other factors will gain their significance on knowledge management. These findings serve to extend the findings of the existing literature within the government sector. This study is important because the findings provide government agencies with critically important information to guide their actions towards ensuring a knowledge sharing culture is embedded in government. Whilst the empirical findings do not focus on databases or information technology specifically, it is important to acknowledge the use of both technology and people. The main concern is with managing an organisation’s knowledge assets: creating, storing, protecting, disseminating and using mission-critical knowledge. When people need knowledge, is it the right knowledge and is it timely and easy to locate and access? Is this precious commodity updated as learning occurs and better ways of doing things are discovered? The awareness of the value of knowledge to a business, coupled with its leadership, acts as an integrator that improves cross- functional communication and cooperation. Shared knowledge not only makes for a more effective, efficient and agile organisation, but creates a common perspective and culture that produces a natural consistency of successful decisions and actions. The collaborative knowledge tree model proposed in this study uses the analogy of a tree when viewing South African government agencies as the branches of a collective tree (government). This ‘tree’ requires leaders and policy making to ‘dig deep’ into understanding the roots of the tree in order to ensure that the appropriate ‘seeds’ are planted such that the tree grows and is able to provide the necessary fruit required. Ultimately, as suggested by former President Thabo Mbeki (2012) in his address, the role of knowledge would thus be seen as a collaborative means towards the betterment of society.