High turnover rate of employees in construction cause companies in the sector struggle against knowledge loss. Due to the high competition in the market, companies differentiate by keeping and increasing their intellectual capital generally acknowledged as the main source of competitive advantage. Knowledge Management (KM) is defined as any process or practice of creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing, and using knowledge, wherever it resides, to increase learning and performance by sustaining organisational knowledge. This study investigates the awareness of Knowledge Management (KM), applicability of KM tools and the role of intellectual capital assets to propose a roadmap for companies in the Turkish construction industry. For this purpose, the study employs a combination of a detailed literature survey, interviews with ten leading medium large-scale Turkish construction companies, and the analysis of previous KM research and tools. Results are analysed, possible barriers are determined, benefits are identified, KM techniques are discussed in terms of their applicability and a four-staged model framework is developed and discussed in order to assist the construction firms in KM.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2009. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, Centre for Educational Research, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (DTech. in Business Information Systems)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2008. / Existing literature propagates a variety of methods for assessment of intellectual capital. Unfortunately, awareness of, and interest in the assessment of intellectual capital far exceeds its use in practice. This research argues that, due to complexities involved in selecting and customising an appropriate method or combination of methods for assessing intellectual capital, mechanisms are needed for managing and applying the evolving body of knowledge concerning such assessment. This research proceeds to develop a model, referred to as a conceptual design for a system to (i) provide management support to the process of selecting and customising an appropriate method (or combination of methods) for assessment of intellectual capital, (ii) utilise past knowledge and expertise to accelerate and improve decision-making, (iii) promote synergism through integration of methods, and (iv) manage the evolving body of knowledge concerning the assessment of intellectual capital.

The aim of the dissertation is to introduce an intellectual capital management model, which integrates strategic management and intellectual capital management processes.

Since returning from virtual obscurity following the demise of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has endured eight years of aggressive transition across nearly all aspects of its social, political and economic infrastructure. Historically recognised for its underlying wealth of natural resources, recent efforts in South Africa have sought to develop the nation's intellectual capabilities and productivity. To establish South Africa's advancement in respect its transition, the primary objective of this research study is to empirically investigate whether a firm 's intellectual capital can explain organisational performance. Findings from this research study will assist to determine if South African companies appear to continue to rely on traditional business practices and perceptions, that is a reliance on natural resources for wealth creation, or are shifting toward a greater reliance on intellectual capital factors of production in determining company performance. The contribution of intellectual capital to company performance in the South African economy was examined using three different models. Model I - part A was designed to establish the decisive business resource in creating wealth in the South African economy? Model I - part B, Model 2 and Model 3 are proposed on the premise of the Resource Based Theory of the Firm in that, company performance is a function of the organisation's ability to acquire and deploy resources (intellectual capital) in such a way to develop a sustainable competitive advantage. Model I - part B, Model 2 and Model 3 were designed to empirically investigate the relationship between a company's intellectual capital and performance. Company performance was examined in three dimensions: productivity, profitability, and market valuation. The primary explanatory independent variable of the analysis was intellectual capital performance. For Model 1 part B and Model 2 a within industry analysis was designed. Two groups of companies were defined for contrasting multiple regression analysis using the different performance measures defined as the dependent variables. Group membership was determined by the company's primary source of value creation. The low-knowledge base group derives its value from raw resource (material) extraction, fixed capital investment and the efforts of physical labour. The high knowledge-base group derives its value exclusively from the efforts of people (human capital) and the collective routine systems, processes and information within the organisation (structural capital). For Model 3 an analysis was carried out across industries and proposed, that certain industries rely more heavily upon the use of knowledge and intellectual capital in producing a company's goods or services. Model 1, empirical results suggested that the dominant business resource in the South African economy is physical and not human capital or structural capital. These results imply that South Africa has not yet manifested the primary characteristics of the Knowledge Economy. Model 2, empirical results indicated only one significant positive relationship, between intellectual capital performance and profitability. This applied to the high and low knowledgebase group. This finding indicated that the appropriate management and measurement of intellectual capital would improve company profitability. Model 3, empirical results did not . support the hypothesis, that the knowledge-base of an industry had a positive effect on the relationship between intellectual capital performance and company performance. Overall, the empirical findings, based on correlation and linear multiple regression analysis indicates, that the contribution of intellectual capital to company performance are informative, but mixed. In general, empirical findings on the one hand suggest that although physical capital is the dominant business resource in the South African economy, the more intensive a company manages and measures its intellectual capital, improved in profitability can result. On the other hand intellectual capital performance does not have a positive influence on productivity in a company nor does it have a positive influence on analysts or investors. As a result, despite efforts to improve its intellectual capital base the business environment and market in South Africa still appears to place greater weight to corporate performance based on physical capital assets. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2003.

Personalen är företagens viktigaste tillgång är ett vanligt förekommande uttryck och kompetens anses idag utgöra en förutsättning för goda resultat och framgång (Björklund & Holmqvist, 1999; Johansson & Johrén, 2011). Det kan dock vara svårt att konkretisera ökade kunskaper i samband med utbildning, vilket kräver en diskussion angående hur verksamheten och medarbetare påverkas. Få organisationer har idag strukturerade system att spåra och upptäcka det värde och de positiva effekter som en investering i kompetensutveckling kan medföra (Chong et al., 2000). GKN Aerospace Sweden AB arbetar aktivt med ett utbildningsverktyg för kompetensutveckling som benämns "Training Days". Syftet med dessa utbildningsdagar är att med hjälp av interna lärare utbilda personalen för att höja kompetensnivån och för att uppmuntra till kunskapsutbyte. Syftet med studien är att ta fram en föreslagen beräkningsmodell för investering i kompetensutveckling samt undersöka vilka effekter som dessa interna utbildningsdagar ger, både ur ett individperspektiv och ett organisatoriskt perspektiv. Studien består av ett kvalitativt och tolkande synsätt, där metoder för datainsamling utgörs av informantintervjuer och enkätundersökning. Tanken med "Training Days" och interna lärare syftar att alla ska kunna dela med sig av kunskap, då det finns mycket kompetens inom organisationen. Konceptet innebär att medarbetare utbildar andra medarbetare, vilket leder till att företaget "tankar ur" kunskap från nyckelmedarbetare till övriga anställda. Resultatet och slutsatserna från studien visade att kunskapen och informationen från "Training Days" var värdefull och bidrog med att förbättra deltagarnas arbete och ledde främst till mer generell kunskap men även mer fördjupad kunskap. Den modell som valts att appliceras på konceptet är bottom-line vilken enligt Smith (2004) är en modell av utvärderingskaraktär som kompletteras med monetära mått där fokus i metoden ligger på att bedöma effekterna av investeringar på deltagarnivå. Effekterna från dessa utbildningsinsatser anses för medarbetarna vara ökad effektivitet, förbättrad arbetsprestation samt förbättrad arbetskvalitet. Ur ett organisatoriskt perspektiv erhålls en konkurrensfördel då medarbetarna besitter en djup och generell kunskap, samt att det för-modligen har en viss påverkan på företagets ekonomiska resultat och framgång / The staff is the company’s most important asset is a common expression and compe-tence is considered today as a condition for good results and success (Björklund & Holmqvist, 1999; Johansson & Johrén, 2011). It can though be difficult to concretize increased knowledge in education, which requires a discussion of how the business and employees are affected. Few organizations today have structured systems to track and discover the value and the positive impact that an investment in competence development may entail (Chong et al., 2000). GKN Aerospace Sweden AB is actively working with a training tool for competence development called the "Training Days". The purpose of these training days is that with the help of internal trainers educate the staff to raise skills and to encourage the exchange of knowledge. The purpose of this study is to develop a proposed calculation model for investment in competence development and to study the effects that these internal training days provide, both from an individual perspective and an organizational perspective. The study consists of a qualitative and interpretive appro-ach, in which methods of data collection consists of informants interviews and a survey. The idea of the "Training Days" and internal trainers aims that everyone can share their knowledge, because there is a lot of expertise within the organization. The concept means that employees train other employees, resulting that the company pass on knowledge of key employees to other employees. The results and the conclusions from the study showed that knowledge and information from the "Training Days" was valuable and contributed to improve the participants’ work and led mainly to more general knowledge but also more in-depth knowledge. The model applied to the concept is the bottom-line which according to Smith (2004) is a model of evaluation character, supplemented by monetary measures where the focus of the method lies in determining the effects of investments on a participant level. The effects of these educational interventions considered for the employees to be increased efficiency, improved job performance and improved work quality. From an organizational perspective obtains a competitive advantage as employees possess a deep and general knowledge, as well as it presumably have some impact on the company’s financial performance and success

Humankapital har ökat i betydelse då allt fler företag har blivit så kallade kunskapsföretag, vilka inriktar sig på att skapa värde genom att endast erbjuda personalens kunskap, kompetens och erfarenhet. Humankapitalet menar forskare, är en tillgång för företaget och borde därför också redovisas som en sådan, precis som företagets andra tillgångar. Dock får inte humankapital i dagens läge tas upp som en tillgång i den finansiella rapporten. Det redovisas därför ofta frivilligt av företagen i hållbarhetsredovisningar. Kunskapsföretagen borde enligt forskare vara de som redovisar absolut mest information om sitt humankapital, då det är företags viktigaste tillgång. Forskare menar också att företagens storlek är en faktor som påverkar hur mycket humankapital som redovisas. Är detta verkligheten? Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det finns några skillnader i hur kunskapsföretag och industriföretag redovisar sitt humankapital i sin årsredovisning samt om företagets storlek påverkar mängden humankapital som återfinns i företagens årsredovisningar. Metoden som används var en kvalitativ dokumentundersökning. I empiri och analys kapitlet finns företagssammanfattningar och vad Scoreboarden gav för resultat. Resultatet redovisas utefter Scoreboardens olika kategorier: anställda, anställdas utbildning, anställdas välmående och motivation, övrig kvalitativ information, styrelse och ledning. Resultatet analyseras också utefter kategori för att underlätta överskådligheten och analysen. Vi delar sedan upp Scoreboarden i två övergripande kategorier: ”Anställda” och ”Ledande befattningshavare”. En analys görs av dessa övergripande kategorier. ”Anställda” består av kategorierna: anställda, anställdas utbildning, anställdas välmående och motivation samt övrig kvalitativ information. ”Ledande befattningshavare” består av: styrelse och ledning. Sist analyseras skillnaden mellan företagens totala redovisning av humankapital. Slutsatser som kan dras utifrån undersökningen är att det finns en skillnad mellan kunskapsföretag och industriföretag om vi bryter ner informationen. Kunskapsföretagen redovisar mer information om ”Anställda”, medan industriföretagen redovisar mer om ”Ledande befattningshavare”. Studeras den totala bilden är skillnaderna mindre. Dock finner vi att industriföretagens redovisning av humankapital påverkas av företagets storlek, medan kunskapsföretaget inte uppvisar en sådan trend. / Human capital has become increasingly important as more companies have become so called knowledge-based enterprises, which focuses on creating value by offering their staff knowledge, skills and experience. The human capital is, according to scientists, an asset to the company and should therefore be recognized as such, just like the company's other assets. However, human capital cannot be recognized as an asset in the financial report. Firms therefore often report this information voluntarily in sustainability reports. According to researchers, the knowledge companies should be the one that presents the most information regarding its human capital, since it is such a company's most important asset. Researchers also believe that corporate size is a factor that affects how much human capital is reported. Is this reality? The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there are any differences in how knowledge- and industry enterprises reports its human capital in its annual report, and if the company's size affects the amount of human capital that can be found in corporate annual reports. The method used was a qualitative document examination. In the empirical evidence and analysis chapter, the reader can find company summaries and the results the scoreboard gave us. The results are reported according to the Scoreboards different categories: employees, employee training, employee well-being and motivation, other qualitative information, the board and management. The results are also analyzed by category to facilitate transparency and the analysis. We then divided the scoreboard into two overall categories: "Employees" and "Senior Management". An analysis is made of these overall categories. "Employee" is composed of the categories: employees, employee training, employee well-being and motivation and other qualitative information. "Senior management" consists of: Board and management. Finally, the difference between a company's overall human capital reporting is analyzed. The conclusions that can be drawn from the survey are that there is a difference between knowledge- and industry enterprises when they are broken down by categories. Knowledge Enterprises presents more information about "Employees", while industrial companies report more about "Senior Management". Looking at the total picture, the differences are minor; however, we find that the industrial firms' reporting of human capital is influenced by firm size, while the knowledge company does not exhibit such a trend.

This research explores the development of a framework appropriate to evaluate the readiness of a university to engage with knowledge management. Many universities are evolving from traditional bureaucratic, hierarchical structures to become more flexible, adaptable, commercially viable and competitive and knowledge management is becoming increasingly important in this respect. An over view of knowledge management clarifies what the concept is, and a critical review of current frameworks and models identifies gaps and weaknesses specifically in relation to empirical testing, theoretical underpinning and a holistic approach. This framework addresses those gaps and weaknesses and draws on organisational management, strategy, structure and culture, and systems thinking to ensure a holistic approach. These key elements provide the basis upon which a knowledge management framework is developed. A Soft Systems Methodological approach with a critical dimension is used to underpin this research because enquiry into organisational problem situations is complex and unstructured, based on human activity and social systems. The framework is innovative and offers contributions to knowledge because it: - is a new development within the domain of knowledge management. (it is intended to help evaluate the readiness of universities to engage in knowledge management); - provides a new application of critical systems thinking (critical systems thinking is applied to knowledge management); - uses a new synthesis (it was developed using a synthesis of soft systems principles, knowledge management concepts, and organisational theory); - enables organisations to consider their situations in new ways (by enabling self-critique of KM readiness); - offers new insights into the domain of knowledge management by means of the comprehensive and substantial literature review that helped its development.

我們已進入「知識經濟」的時代。在這樣的時代裡，組織運作及獲利的關鍵因素不再侷限於實體的資產，組織內部的管理能力、員工的專業能力、組織關係的經營能力等無形的智慧資本更扮演了重要的角色。台灣是一個倚賴自由貿易的國家，配合近年來政府正大力推動台灣為亞太金融中心的環境下，金融自由化與國際化已是未來不可擋的趨勢。面對經營環境的劇烈改變，國內金融業如何運用適當策略，以維持或提高經營績效，已是目前急需解決的重要問題。本研究依據智慧資本之相關文獻發展出智慧資本衡量指標，並透過問卷調查收及金融業對智慧資本衡量指標之看法，再以層級分析法評估衡量指標之重要性。 研究結果發現，在智慧資本的三大構面中，金融業最重視人力資本，其後依序為結構資本、關係資本；智慧資本各個要項中，金融業認為員工專業能力最重要，其後依序是員工忠誠度、組織管理能力、研發創新能力及顧客創造價值。最後，並依據研究結果提出建議。

Following the dynamic capabilities perspective, I suggest that antecedents to innovation can be found at the individual, firm, and network level. Thus, I challenge two assumptions common in prior research: (1) that significant variance exists at the focal level of analysis, while other levels of analysis are assumed to be homogeneous, and (2) that the focal level of analysis is independent from other levels of analysis. Accordingly, I advance a set of hypotheses to simultaneously assess the direct effects of antecedents at the individual, firm, and network level on innovation output. I then investigate whether a firm s antecedents to innovation lie across different levels. To accomplish this, I propose two competing interaction hypotheses. I juxtapose the hypothesis that the individual, firm, and network-level antecedents to innovation are substitutes versus the proposition that these innovation mechanisms are complements. I test my multi-level theoretical model using an unusually comprehensive and detailed panel dataset that documents the innovation attempts of global pharmaceutical companies within biotechnology over a 22-year time period (1980-2001). I find evidence that the antecedents to innovation lie across different levels of analysis and can have compensating or reinforcing effects on firm-level innovative output.