Integrating Knowledge Management maturity with associated Continuous Improvement efforts in order to remain competitive, is absent in most Operational Excellence initiatives. Furthermore, the intertwined relationship of Continuous Improvement and work development becomes a crucial focus area for organisations that wish to establish a continuously evolving management system consisting of core values, methodologies and tools with the aim of creating more satisfied customers with less resources. The old industrial paradigm that focused on labour, capital, materials, and energy viewed technology and knowledge as external influences on production. This framework is now being challenged and a new trend is emerging. This trend seeks to transform the old industrial system to that of a knowledge-based which one can lead to innovation and hence economic advantage. Continuous Improvement as a concept has roots in many other fields, including social-technical system design, human relations progress and the discussion surrounding ‘lean manufacturing’. This study will focus on Continuous Improvement as a noun, referring to on the outcome of the process of a stream of emergent innovations. The primary objective of the study is to create a model that will present an organisation with a three-layer knowledge reference process grid, which will align and depict the surrounding business knowledge functions, knowledge-enabling processes and knowledge-manipulating processes aiming for enabling Operational Excellence. This study promotes the theory that the cognitive domain layer, functional domain layer and resources layer of an organisation can be increasingly stimulated by focusing effort through Continuous Improvement routines towards the associated inter-organisational knowledge processes sustaining Operational Excellence. The proposed model is structured to review, compare, evaluate and integrate existing Knowledge Management practices of ii an organisation within the context of clear definitions for important concepts of Knowledge Management. Additionally the model provides an assessment instrument for evaluating the organisation’s Knowledge Management maturity level. The study concerns itself with two concepts towards business value creation which will lead to increased Operational Excellence. Firstly, the maturity of Knowledge Management processes, and secondly the level of the organisation wide process of focused and continuous incremental improvement namely, Continuous Improvement. A case study with PriceWaterhouseCoopers was concluded and an on-line Internet survey was used with a stratified sample from knowledge workers to test the factors from both a Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement perspective. These factors were verified by means of a hypotheses network, describing in a structured and descriptive way, the importance of Knowledge Management and Continuous Improvement collectively on sustainable Operational Excellence as an integral development of Operational Excellence. With respect to Knowledge Management practices, the hypothesis network proposed at least three domains, which of knowledge generation, knowledge mobilisation and knowledge application as important input to the proposed process grid of knowledge development and associated layer elements. From a Continuous Improvement principles perspective it is apparent that elements from Continuous Improvement routines and Continuous Improvement characteristics are associated with the organisation Continuous Improvement ability. These findings are also a result of the deliberate design of processes, tools, structures and environments with the intent to increase, renew, share or improve the use of knowledge represented in any of the three elements for structural, human and social of intellectual capital. The proposed model combines the framework of the Boyd cycle as it is conceptualized as self-assessment activities, for it becomes possible to use them as basis of a self-assessment with sense making navigational properties across iii the proposed knowledge process grid for the model. The model will facilitate the concept of a three-layer knowledge reference process grid, which represents the main components of the knowledge processes within the cognitive domain layer, functional layer and resources layer of an organisation. The proposed model will deliver a single value that co-exists with the Knowledge Management maturity level and Continuous Improvement readiness index rating attained. Logical relationships to dynamic, evolving and flexible enabling Knowledge Management practices for each layer of the proposed three-layer knowledge reference process grid will be integrated as output of the proposed model. The research has limitations as Knowledge Management practices were measured using a subjective norm scale. It is suggested that a more comprehensive measure of Knowledge Management maturity processes may be needed to represent this construct. The complexity of the proposed model and the number of associated variables included in the results need further confirmation using possible multiple samples and additional measures of Knowledge Management maturity and Continuous Improvement readiness elements. The benefit of the proposed model as a practical Operational Excellence tool is to overcome the perceived gap of implementing Knowledge Management practices and Continuous Improvement principles collectively to deliver and sustain Operational Excellence.

<p>Nowadays companies have changed the way they do the business and have realized that they must explicitly manage their intellectual resources and capabilities in order to remain competitive. The consequence is a rise in demand for knowledge management professionals. Since knowledge management is an emerging discipline, presently there is no widely accepted competency framework for knowledge management professions available.</p><p>A quantitative content analysis was performed using 89 job advertisements from United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland in order to identify competencies of knowledge management profession. The results of the study show that most of the job advertisements asked for skills in Knowledge Management Technologies which are important for knowledge management professionals to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge management processes. The study shows also that knowledge management is more than creation, capturing, sharing and using of knowledge. Moreover it proves that knowledge management does not have a set of clear job titles and that it does not provide clearly bounded set of activities and tasks. Generally much misunderstanding exists about who and what knowledge management professionals are and what kind of skills they have to possess.</p>

Nowadays companies have changed the way they do the business and have realized that they must explicitly manage their intellectual resources and capabilities in order to remain competitive. The consequence is a rise in demand for knowledge management professionals. Since knowledge management is an emerging discipline, presently there is no widely accepted competency framework for knowledge management professions available. A quantitative content analysis was performed using 89 job advertisements from United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Ireland in order to identify competencies of knowledge management profession. The results of the study show that most of the job advertisements asked for skills in Knowledge Management Technologies which are important for knowledge management professionals to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of knowledge management processes. The study shows also that knowledge management is more than creation, capturing, sharing and using of knowledge. Moreover it proves that knowledge management does not have a set of clear job titles and that it does not provide clearly bounded set of activities and tasks. Generally much misunderstanding exists about who and what knowledge management professionals are and what kind of skills they have to possess.

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Research in knowledge management has gained much attention in recent years. In the past, the process view that focuses on the creation, organization, sharing, and application of explicit and tacit knowledge has dominated knowledge management research. In this study, we propose an alternative view that examines the dynamic relationships of knowledge from an ecological perspective. The DICE model developed from relevant ecological concepts is proposed. The model consists of four major dimensions in measuring the status of organizational knowledge management: knowledge distribution, interaction, competition and evolution. These four elements interact with each other and evolve over time to form a knowledge ecology in an organization. The DICE model is supported by a qualitative case study in this research. Evidence collected through interviews in a large semi-conductor packaging company indicate the existence of these dimensions. A quantitative survey was then conducted to examine the relationships between these knowledge ecology constructs and organizational performance. The results show that different knowledge ecology do affect knowledge management performance. Therefore, the DICE model can be used to measure the knowledge ecology of an organization and managers can use the model to assess their knowledge ecology and make improvement in order to enhance organizational performance.

The relathionshiops between industry attribution and knowledge management-A case study on Petroleum and Petro-chemical Industries, steel industries, and TFT-LCD industries. To meet the demands of the market and create demands and hence to build up new competitive advantages in the knowledge-economy world, the focus of enterprises is to manipulate knowledge, make good use of the characteristics of knowledge-sharing and innovation. Therefore, knowledge management can be deemed as a weapon for organizational management and organizational development. With fine-quality knowledge, enterprises can create new knowledge and enhance corporate competitiveness. The aim of this research is to explore the differences of the mechanisms of knowledge management and the relationships between industry attributions and knowledgement among enterprises. With interviews with companies and relevant literature review, we conclude the following researching findings: Research finding 1: When the technologies in an industry go into a ripe phase, the model of knowledgement tends to focus on integrating explicit knowledge; when the technologies are still in the growth phase, the model of knowledge management focuses on internal interaction. Research finding2: Enterprises place more importance on knowledge transfer and their knowledge management mechanisms focus on information system when the industry life cycle is in the ripe phase; enterprises value knowledge innovation and their knowledge management mechanisms focus on the platform of human interaction when the industry life cycle is in the growth phase. Research finding 3: Industries in ripe phase emphasize the knowledge storage, diffusion, and application; industries in growth phase emphasize the knowledge creation. Keyword: knowledge management, industry attribution, industry life cycle, mechanism of knowledge management.

½×¤åºK­n (­^) In the IC packaging and testing industry, short lead-time, high yield performance and excellence in quality are the major factors for competition. To achieve these goals, experienced and knowledgeable employees as well as a culture appreciating collaborative problem solving and knowledge sharing are essential. The case company realized and promoted the importance of collaborative problem solving and knowledge sharing. Currently, several collaborative problem solving and knowledge sharing activities can be observed in the case company. Although the case company appreciates and creates the culture of collaborative problem solving and knowledge sharing, several challenges remain to be addressed. ¡P Reuse of lessons learned knowledge (or tacit knowledge for short) seldom takes place. ¡P Retention of Lessons Learned knowledge is lacking. ¡P The availability of lessons learned knowledge is a concern. To address the above-mentioned challenges faced by the case company, the purpose of this research is to develop and implement a knowledge management system. Specifically, an lessons learned knowledge repository will be constructed for capturing, retaining and reusing lessons learned knowledge. The goals of the target knowledge management system include facilitating efficient inter- and intra-departmental knowledge sharing and improving the knowledge availability that, in turn, leading to a productivity improvement. Empirical evaluations on the usability of the proposed system will be conducted and analyzed.

The concept of knowledge management has become a critical issue in both academic and practical area. Organizations invest huge resources in knowledge management work in order to maintain long term competitive advantage. Therefore, how to use information technology to support knowledge management in an efficient way is a critical success factor in organizations adopting knowledge management. However, the running effect of knowledge management system does not achieve organizations¡¦ expectancy. The main reason is that knowledge management system is designed for unstable form of knowledge; developing information system in a structural way can not process this abstract knowledge effectively. For the reason, this research applies intelligent agent technique in developing knowledge management system, hoping to make use of intelligent agents¡¦ autonomy, communication ability, adaptability and mobility to raise the efficiency of knowledge management. This research analysis the general knowledge management works in order to find out the general knowledge management requirements. And then, this research also checks which requirements are suitable for intelligent agent to process. After integrating these requirements, this research proposes a complete intelligent agent based knowledge management system framework and a detail definition of each intelligent agent, and a set of message communication protocols between these intelligent agents.

Twenty-one century is a knowledge-economy age. Knowledge that replaces the machine, capital, material, or labor becomes the most important element of management of organization. Knowledge is also an important condition of competition and survival. Knowledge plays an important role in economic system in the future. A government of huge organization should make efforts in the management of transferring knowledge to competition as enterprise. According to government will play an important role as a planner and advancer, so the research of government knowledge management will be took into account. The research collects and classifies literature and finds seven original factors of government knowledge management, and verifies the relationship among three variables of knowledge management behavior intention. The research uses principal factor analysis to find the key success factors of knowledge management. Six key success factors has been extracted in this research by factor analysis (principal component analysis), they are (1)the basis of knowledge management of organization ; (2)important conception of knowledge management to organization ; (3) need for a clear standard system to evaluate ; (4) available resource of information technology¡F(5)policy support¡F(6)the responsible group for knowledge management. The analysis of this research showed that 28 KM variables are considered significantly important. The first important variable is ¡§leadership and ability to promote change of the management¡¨ and previous five factors are especially the factor of the attitude to knowledge management. The research also classify three factors about the difficulties of the implement of knowledge management, they are (1)the difficulties about employees¡¦ abilities of technology¡F(2)the difficulties about the organization structure and culture¡F(3)the difficulties about the abilities of planning. The conclusion of this research is to provide feasible suggestions to government administration so that they could construct KM in an effective and efficient way. Some supportive policies from the government organizations are suggested as well and I hope this research can provide the government with the experience.

Aim of study: The purpose of this study is to investigate the current knowledge management status within the Academic Information Service at the University of Pretoria. Research method: A literature study was conducted to establish the nature and value of knowledge management for organizations. A questionnaire was used to obtain reliable information with regard to the current value and nature of knowledge management within the Academic Information Service at the University of Pretoria. Core findings: Within an academic library like the Academic Information Service at Pretoria, there exist a certain misconception that libraries are already doing knowledge management for years. The management of knowledge for clients, and providing knowledge and information to the client are seen as knowledge management. It was indicated that within the Academic Information Service there is not much attention given to the management of tacit knowledge within the organization. This shows that libraries aren’t doing knowledge management for years. They are doing explicit management of knowledge but not tacit management of organizational knowledge. Within this study it is stressed why this tacit knowledge is so important for an organization to exist and compete within these turbulent times we live in. The academic information service is not managing their tacit knowledge to the fullest potential and for benefit of the organization. There is no culture or incentives conducive to knowledge sharing within the library. The existing technology namely the intranet and portal aren’t re ally enablers for knowledge management. There exist a lot of barriers to knowledge management within the AIS that should be attended to. A knowledge management strategy is suggested with a lot of shifts in connection to the culture of the organization, incentives and information technology. / Thesis (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2002.