For the past few years, the University of Natal has been using an HTML-driven InnerWeb as its intranet system. The advantages of database driven intranet technologies over static HTML pages are now well established. It was felt that the University should change to a database driven intranet system which would better serve the needs of the University community. The first part of this study was conducted to establish user perceptions and requirements of such an intranet. Results from this study suggested that the functionalities and needs expressed by participants are synonymous with functionalities offered by database driven intranets. The second part of this study was therefore to follow up and prioritise the identified requirements for the main intranet interface to establish a controlled vocabulary and investigate current debate on the possibilities and limitations of intranets as a knowledge management tool. Part of the study took cognisance of Stoke's use inspired research premise by adapting constructivist research philosophy as well as Van den Akker's development research strategy to guide the study. Eclectic mixed methodology as suggested by Reeves guided the research design for this study. Thus data gathering methods which included group and on-line card sorting, semi-structured interviews, category membership expectation tests and prototype validation were used to validate each stage of the development process. Data analysis procedures included using Microsoft Excel to calculate the total score assigned to each item for possible inclusion on the intranet, cluster analysis using IBM EZSort software, analysing interview transcripts using QSR NVlvo software as well as simple eye balling of the category membership expectation data. The initial 93 items for possible inclusion, which were identified at the first part of the study were reduced to 60 items. Some distinct themes, which were identified, include research activities, library, social notices, corporate notices, learning activities, University Policies and Procedures, student activities, staff activities and on-line collaboration . The results of this study suggest that it is challenging to establish vocabulary which is common to the majority of prospective users. Thus, some of the suggested vocabulary for category labels did not have majority consensus. This study also suggests that participants expect a process driven intranet, which offers multidimensional access points and multiple ways to navigate. This implies analysing same data from different viewpoints. Participants want more from an intranet than simple document publishing though a few can not see the intranet beyond a document retrieval tool. The study suggests that users have different needs which could be better addressed by offering customisation and personalisation functionalities to suit users' individual needs. Participants expect to use the intranet as a reliable institutional memory which offers seamless remote access to synchronous and asynchronous communicating tools, access to various forms of digital media, interactive on-line administration functionalities as well as access to on-line academic related activities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

The objectives of the research was to identify how knowledge, learning and reflection is mediated in communities of practice. The overall aim was to base the evidence from the lived experiences of those who are part of the communities of practice under study. The research was undertaken through a qualitative inquiry using a social constructionist perspective. The research was pursued through participative action research in one case study organisation, and through participative observation, or observation in fifteen others. The key findings of this inquiry include six sociological elements which were common to all sixteen organisations. Further, four key knowledge flow processes were consistent across all cases. In total forty-one main findings were identified to the pursued research questions. Two conceptual models of learning and reflection were presented as ways to help understand how knowledge, learning and reflection are mediated in communities of practice. The models can be used at different levels of abstraction and conceptualisation. The study provides original insights into consulting activity within communities of practice, and highlights key themes based upon the lived experiences of the participants in the inquiry.

A significant change is taking place in manufacturing company strategies around the globe. With new monitoring and service methods, new opportunities of product use and service provision emerge. The manufacturing companies once focused on mere product manufacture, now have started to provide ‘systemic solutions’, i.e. products combined with service packages, which are often referred to as Product-Service Systems (PSS). Currently, there is not a well-established feedback mechanism between service and design. The aim of this research is to develop a methodology to capture, represent, and re-use service knowledge to support product design. For the accomplishment of this aim an extensive literature review of the related themes to the research area took place. It was found that the feedback from service to design is fundamental for the enhancement of product performance; however, the existing literature in this area is not adequate. The industrial investigation led to the realisation that there is not an established mechanism in place to show how service knowledge (SK) can be used by designers. An in- depth investigation took place with the collaboration of, in total, four UK manufacturing companies. The author studied both the conceptual and detailed design, focusing on the design requirements (DR) and the design/service features (DF/SF) respectively. The first step was the capture of SK and its representation using Protégé software. Following this, at the conceptual design stage, SK can be re-used through the DR-SK tool. The two main purposes of the tool are the knowledge retrieval by designers, and the identification of gaps in SK. At the detailed design stage, designers can access SK through the DF-SK tool, and the developed knowledge templates. The SKaD framework was created, as a result of the amalgamation among the SKaD methodology, the knowledge templates, and the tools developed to link SK and DR, SF, and DF. Conclusively, the framework was applied on case studies within the pump manufacturing and aerospace industries, and its purpose (to aid designers accessing and re-using SK) was validated by experts within the collaborating organisations. As a result of this research’s findings, the service personnel can capture SK in a structured manner, which can then be re- used by product designers at both the conceptual and detailed design stage.

The Semantic Web project has introduced new techniques for managing information. Data can now be organised more efficiently and in such a way that computers can take advantage of the relationships that characterise the given input to present more relevant output. Semantic Web based search engines can quickly educe exactly what is needed to be found and retrieve it while avoiding information overload. Up until now, search engines have interacted with their users by asking them to look for words and phrases. We propose the creation of a new generation Semantic Web search engine that will offer a visual interface for queries and results. To create such an engine, information input must be viewed not merely as keywords, but as specific concepts and objects which are all part of the same universal system. To make the manipulation of the interconnected visual objects simpler and more natural, 3D graphics are utilised, based on the X3D Web standard, allowing users to semantically synthesise their queries faster and in a more logical way, both for them and the computer.

Human capital development is a prerequisite for a knowledge-based economy and for sustaining economic growth. Capability and capacity in the management of new knowledge and technology is determined by the quality of human capital. With globalization, Malaysia faces ever increasing competition in trade and investment. Therefore, the workforce will have to be equipped with a strong base in education and training. Efforts should, therefore, be made to ensure that the education and training system has the capacity to enhance the quality of intellectual capital as well as expanding the human resource base. In mainstream human capital theory, the basic principle is to measure the quality of human capital through some measure of educational achievement, such as years of schooling. It is generally assumed that more years in schooling improves the quality of human capital. Thus it is assumed by policy makers that an increased level of education will impact directly on labour market productivity. Concomitantly, policy makers argue that increasing the level of schooling will give an impact on wages. One of the obvious methods to assess the impact of investment in education is to calculate the rate of return to education. The overall impact of education on wages for society is described as the social rate of return and for the individual as the private rate of return. The major concern of this thesis is to assess the impact of investment in education on individuals. Thus I use a household income survey to estimate the private rate of return to Malaysian education from 1995 to 2004. A recent important strand in human capital literature is concerned with the role of education in emerging economies. This study is not as well established as in developed economies. Malaysia, as one of the High-Performing Asian Economies (HPAEs) over the past two decades, has experienced a steady growth with continuous improvement in the education system. Data and infonnation collected on Malaysian education and earnings serve to provide an important indicator of the benefits from investment in education for this important economy. Previous data and analysis on returns were hampered by relatively few observations and other data inadequacies. This thesis offers estimates based on a consistent set of household income surveys from 1995 to 2004. Thus, the estimation is more consistent compared with previous fmdings. Moreover, this thesis estimates the returns using both a standard and an alternative approach, i.e. Instrumental Variable (IV) that has never been applied to the Malaysian data. This is important because the latter estimation not only reduces the potential bias but also shows the impact of school reform on the returns. Additionally, returns to education using IV estimation are rarely compared between emerging economies and the developed countries. Such an analysis provides an indication of how important the human capital investment and educational reform have been at the current stage of development. Our results also provide new methodology for developing economies in estimating returns to education. The standard approach to estimating returns is based on homogenous returns to education - everyone gets the same return to the same qualification. Our results from this homogenous returns model shows the private rate of return to education in Malaysia is about the world average. However, endogeneity in schooling, omitted variables and other factors, such as ability will produce potential bias in estimation. The heterogeneous returns model allows for varying returns across individuals. This thesis clarifies differences in returns to different individuals. The exogenous impact in the Malaysian education system. i.e. the schooling reform is used as an instrument. The results reveal that the returns from IV estimation were higher than the standard approach. This result adds to literature by showing that OLS may underestimate the returns to education in the context of a developing country. The literature on rates of return paints a complex picture of the theoretical frameworks, methods and even results of such studies. Many of the benefits of education are not easily measured and are often not even recognized by rate of return studies. It is important for rate of return studies to acknowledge the methodological limitations and explain that rates of return are only an imperfect proxy to education benefits, which should ideally be used in conjunction with other measures of educational results.

„Wissensmanagement ist eine Herausforderung für alle Unternehmen, welche in der Wissensgesellschaft überleben und ihre Wettbewerbsposition ausbauen wollen“ ([Pro12] 1). Vor diesem Hintergrund scheint insbesondere der Austausch und Transfer von Wissen ein hohes Wettbewerbspotenzial aufzuweisen und gestaltungsbezogen eine hohe Relevanz zu haben (vgl. [Leh14] 5 f., 13 ff.; [Krc95] 24 ff.), während klassische Kostensenkungsmaßnahmen weitgehend ausgereizt scheinen (vgl. [Nor11] 1 f.). Die Weitergabe von wertgenerierendem Wissen in Unternehmen ist jedoch mit Barrieren verbunden, die stark auf Egoismen und Hemmnissen beruhen, und die es zu überwinden gilt. Der nachfolgende Beitrag zeigt reinterpretiert die wichtigsten Ergebnisse einer im Rahmen einer Dissertation erfolgten empirischen Untersuchung zur Überwindung von Barrieren im Wissenstransfer auf und leitet daraus Handlungsempfehlungen für die Praxis ab [Sch13].

In recent years the funds spent on research and development (R & D) have grown considerably. An indication of the extent of the growth in the U.K. was given by Hart (1) who noted that in 1900 approximately 0.05% of the gross national product was spent on research. This percentage increased to 0.25% in 1938, 1.6% in 1954 and 2.7% in 1962. Villiers (2) quotes a similar growth in the U.S., where research expenditure grew from <1% of gross national product in 1947, to about 3% in 1962. (In the U.K. it appears, from some statistics produced by the Ministry of Technology (3), that research expenditure has remained at about 2.7% of GNP over the period 1962-1967). The allocation of these resources poses a number of challenging questions in governmental, industrial and academic spheres. At a national level the kind of questions that might be asked are (a) what proportion of the gross national product should be devoted to government sponsored research, or (b) how should funds be divided between the claims of the aerospace, computer, or machine tool industries, or (c) how should funds be divided between the competing claims of the nuclear physicists and marine biologists. The large industrial concern is faced with similar problems though the resources involved are smaller. ICI for example spent about £30M on R & D in 1968, and during the later 1960's, the growth rate was about 8% per year. The Company must decide on the total amount to be spent on R & D and how it is to be allocated between different Divisions of the Company and different research categories. At lower levels of management two of the questions arising are (a) which projects shall be selected, and (b) how should the flow of resources to projects be controlled. It is now generally accepted that there is a need for techniques for assisting in the management of R & D. Jones (4) summed up the situation well when he wrote "It is not surprising that there is an increasing amount of discussion on the management of R & D for profit. Business becomes increasingly competitive and R & D activities, just as those of production and marketing must be examined to see how they can best play their part." Already a large number of relevant papers have been published, but as yet no significant breakthrough has been achieved. An important feature of the literature has been the concentration on theoretical models as a means of assisting research managers: reports of new methodology considerably out-number reports of practical testing of the methods in research laboratories. Throughout the author's research the opposite bias, that is to say towards a practical rather than a theoretical approach has been maintained. This was facilitated by the author completing most of his research in the R & D Department of the Mond Division of ICI (of which he is a member). The research presented in this thesis began with the very general objective of examining and developing methods for the allocation of resources (capital and manpower) to R & D and so Chapter 1 discusses some relevant methods that have been proposed in the literature. It was later decided to concentrate on the development of an improved system of project evaluation and control. Chapter 2 analyses an established system in this field, and looks at past projects to demonstrate some of the problems such a system should accept. Later chapters present the system that was developed during the research and record experience of testing the various procedures on a number of Mond Division R & D projects. As these are either still in progress or are only recently completed it has been necessary, for reasons of security, to limit descriptive detail and to normalize numerical data. Such normalization has been made in a manner that preserves the essential financial characteristics of the project. It is well perhaps, in the Introduction, to distinguish between the terms research and development. Following Baines, Bradbury and Suckling ( (5), page (2) ) process definition will be the term used to cover the steps required to take exploratory production activities from laboratory scale to full-scale. Development will refer to the problems of opening up a business area with a new product and will include economic assessment and marketing activities. For the most part these activities are closely linked to research activities and are usually performed by members of the same project team. The convention followed in the thesis will be to use the term 'research' to refer to all the activities of the project team and to assume that these also include some development activities as defined above. Only when discussing the work of others who have used the term R & D, or when there is a reason to emphasise the commercial exploitation content of a project will the word development be used.

Dans une étude critique, s'appuyant sur l'analyse aristotélicienne du langage (Aristote, 2000a; Benveniste, 1966), sur l'émergence historique de ce que (Crosby, 1997) appelle la mentalité pentamétrique de la société moderne, sur l'exposé anthropologique de (Jorion, 2009) de l'invention par l'Occident des concepts de Vérité et de Réalité (objective), et, s’inspirant, sur un plan plus limité, des incursions dans la pensée chinoise du philosophe helléniste Jullien (Jullien, 1995, 2009), il est démontré que les nombres, l'espace et le temps sont des constructions sociales sémiotiques ; et exposé que les méthodes philologiques, en révélant les fossés sémiotiques (Cruse, 2004; Lyon, 1995), apportent un éclairage absent des études multiculturelles traditionnelles (Hofstede, 1983; Maison, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, et Gupta, 2006). De là, sont mis en avant les bien-fondé de (a) l'exercice du doute de soi, de l'ouverture d'esprit, et de la capacité de désapprendre dans les contextes interculturels et interdisciplinaires, et de (b) la prise de conscience des fossés sémiotiques entre cultures et entre disciplines et leur impact sur la cognition des individus, des équipes, des groupes et des organisations. Ancré épistémologiquement dans la réfutabilité poppérienne (Popper, 2002) et le paradigme kuhnien du progrès scientifique (Kuhn, 1996), partant du traité sociologique sur la confiance sociétale en les nombres (Porter, 1995), l’auteur se joint au débat sur la nature des sciences sociales. Ces constats empiriques éclairent l’activité de modélisation dans les sciences sociales. Exposant que la qualité de construction sociale des mathématiques (Berger & Luckmann, 1966b; Jorion, 2009) est en pratique ignorée à la fois par les chercheurs en sciences sociales et les praticiens des affaires, sont évoquées (a) la façon dont la théorie physique post-newtonienne avance en construisant de nouvelles algèbres, et (b) les alternatives théoriquement licites à l'arithmétique de Péano et la géométrie euclidienne qui n'ont pas été explicitement rejetées ou considérées dans les modélisations sociales. Des tentatives indépendantes et superficiellement paradoxales de théorisation des organisations avec divers outils mathématiques —en particulier (Bitbol, 2009; Donaldson, 2010)— sont ensuite conciliées. Puis, des principes de développement d’un corpus mathématique phénoménologiquement fondé et spécifique aux sciences sociales sont exprimés. Ensuite, est exposé comment une double perspective de réseaux sociaux, appliquée conjointement aux niveaux sémantique et culturel, peut utilement étendre l'analyse qualitative de discours. Pour illustrer les implications pratiques de cette thèse, un terrain fertile est retenu ; une méthodologie d’intégration post-fusion de la connaissance organisationnelle sans perte d'information, proposée. Jouant du rôle particulier des énumérations, des informations spatiales, et des informations temporelles dans le discours et la langue occidentaux (Aristote, 2000a; Benveniste, 1966), une méthodologie, qui s'appuie à la fois sur la normalisation de base de données du domaine des systèmes d’information (Codd, 1970, 1972, 1974; Date, Darwen, & Lorentzos, 2003; Fagin, 1977, 1979, 1981) et du modèle dynamique de création de connaissances SECI (Nonaka, 1994) du domaine de la gestion des connaissances en sciences de gestion, est décrite. Cette méthodologie, baptisée Archinormalisation par l’auteur, introduit le concept sociologiquement ancré d’Entité sans Attribut.Enfin, de nouvelles voies de recherche sont évoquées / In a critical management study, drawing on Aristotelian analysis of language (Aristotle, 2000; Benveniste, 1966), (Crosby, 1997)’s historical analysis of the emergence of what he coins modern society’s pentametric mentalité, (Jorion, 2009)’s anthropological exposition of the West’s invention of Truth and (objective) Reality, and following, albeit with a much more limited scope, in the footsteps of Hellenist philosopher Jullien’s forays into Chinese thought (Jullien, 1995, 2009), numbers, space and time are revealed as semiotically-grounded social constructs and philological methods —revealing semiotic gaps (Cruse, 2004; Lyons, 1995)— shed light unmatched by past multicultural surveys (Hofstede, 1983; House, Hanges, Javidan, Dorfman, & Gupta, 2006).From this, are defended the merits of exercising self-doubt, open-mindedness, and unlearning capability, whilst in cross-cultural and crossdisciplinary contexts, and awareness of cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary cognitive gaps at the individual, team, group and organizational levels.Anchored epistemologically in Popperian falsifiability (Popper, 2002), Kuhnian scientific progress (Kuhn, 1996) and Porter’s sociologicaltreatise on our trust in numbers (Porter, 1995), the author joins the debate on the nature of social science. What this thesis’ empirical findings reveal in the context of mathematically supported model-building in the realm of social science is explored; that social scientists and business practitioners model-building is blindsided to the socially constructed nature of mathematics (Berger & Luckmann, 1966; Jorion, 2009) is pondered; how post-Newtonian theoretical physics builds new theory by building new math is evoked; mathematically sound alternatives to Peano arithmetic and Euclidean geometry that have not been explicitly dismissed or considered by social scientists is exposed; independent and superficially paradoxical attempts to theorize organizations with various bodies ofmathematics are reconciled —notably (Bitbol, 2009; Donaldson, 2010); and development principles towards a phenomenologicallygrounded mathematics corpus are yielded. Next, how a social network perspective applied conjointly at the semantic and cultural levels of analysis may usefully extend and bring insights to standard qualitative content analysis is put forward. To illustrate the practical implications of this thesis, one fertile ground is focused upon and a loss-less method to merge indwelled information systems is posited. Empirically illustrating the Aristotelian breakdown of language into its component parts (and the special role numbers, space, and time play in Western discourse and language), a methodology is described for nonloss post-merger integration of organizational knowledge that builds both on (Codd, 1970, 1972, 1974; Date et al., 2003; Fagin, 1977, 1979, 1981) database normalization from the field of Information Management in Computer Science, and on (Nonaka, 1994)’s SECI dynamic model of knowledge creation fromthe field of Knowledge Management in Business Administration Studies. This methodology, coined Archnormalization by the author,introduces the sociologically-grounded concept of Attribute-free Entities. Finally, further avenues of research are outlined that ultimately lie beyond the scope of this thesis.

Since the late 1980s there has been a greater awareness of the need to manage organisational knowledge resources, which are seen as vital to the value proposition of any organisation. This has resulted in the development of a multiplicity of Organisational Knowledge Management (OKM) approaches, systems and processes. OKM as a concept is however experiencing a prolonged period of practitioner and academic dissatisfaction, which is impacting its credibility. Commentators claim that this emanates from the fact that a general model, as a diagnostic mechanism for the field, has not yet emerged, an indicator of immaturity in the field and a destabilising influence on practitioner confidence. This research sets out to explore OKM, with the aim of understanding and attempting to help address this dissatisfaction. The literature review focuses on environmental drivers of OKM as a concept from both practitioner and academic perspectives. This highlights a need for (1) an agreed definition of purpose for OKM systems and (2) a general diagnostic model or framework for those systems that identifies common constructs across sectors or geographic locations. In turn, these require appropriate research evidence. The research reported on in this thesis utilises Soft Systems Methodology as a framework for enquiry. By means of a meta-analysis of literature, the enquiry progresses to a descriptive survey, with findings being illustrated and analysed through fractal analysis. The data is then compared against a sample of models from the field before being translated into a new OKM diagnostic model and supporting toolkit, using logic modelling and a Participatory Integrated Assessment Tool. The application of these to a case study, carried out within in a large multinational organisation, is reported on and evaluated. Findings are that 'self-similarity' exists across existing views of OKM; that the need for knowledge to be used as an organisational resource is a persistent one; that a methodology can be developed that reacts to the needs of academics and practitioners in responding to the challenges from the field; that a proposition for a general organisation diagnostic model is possible; that a robust evidence-based definition for the concept, as well as a general diagnostic model for the coordination of organisational knowledge resources is needed and are provided; and that such a general diagnostic tool, such as has been developed in the research on which this thesis is based, can be applied within an organisation to identify gaps in systems designed to coordinate organisational knowledge resources.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / This thesis explores the definition of FORCEnet, determines what degree of consensus exists about its concepts and evaluates the Joint Fires Network against FORCEnet principles. The military has been moving toward network based information operations, but struggles to stay current with information technology (IT). IT and knowledge management are not mature disciplines. The services struggle to choose durable standards, processes and systems, and field them across a vast enterprise quickly. Additionally, complex acquisition and configuration processes are incapable of producing interoperable networks on the timescale of IT growth. Though the services and agencies have fielded capable systems in the past, they become legacy if a newer standard is adopted that disenfranchises them. Organizational transformation is required to support flexibility in the Department of Defense. Sea Power 21 is a comprehensive attempt to address the implications of the IT revolution. The legs of the vision are Sea Basing, Sea Shield and Sea Strike. The enabler is FORCEnet, "the operational construct and architectural framework of naval warfare in the information age that integrates Warriors, sensors, networks, command and control, platforms, and weapons into a networked, distributed combat force that is scalable across all levels of conflict from seabed to space and sea to land." / Commander, United States Navy