A aplicação da Gestão do Conhecimento cresce a cada ano, especialmente em empresas de grande porte. Apesar de ser uma ferramenta capaz de oferecer vantagem competitiva, pequenas e médias empresas ainda tem dificuldade de aplica-la devido a falta de metodologias formais com ênfase em pequenas e médias empresas. Esse trabalho apresenta uma proposta de metodologia para guiar pequenas e médias empresas na realização de projetos de Gestão do Conhecimento. Por meio de um método sequencial e repetível a metodologia desenvolvida neste trabalho de pesquisa e denominada MAGCPME Metodologia de Análise para Gestão do Conhecimento em Pequenas e Médias Empresas, tem como foco a fase de análise e levantamento de requisitos para o desenvolvimento de Sistemas para Gestão do Conhecimento. Esse trabalho também apresenta um estudo de caso com o resultado da aplicação da metodologia MAGCPME em uma pequena empresa brasileira e a análise dos resultados obtidos desta aplicação. / Application of Knowledge Management is growing every year, especially in large companies. Despite all the benefits it can provide, small companies still have difficulty implementing it due to lack formal methodologies with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises. This work proposes a methodology to guide small and medium enterprises to start Knowledge Management projects. Through a sequential and repeatable method the methodology developed on this work called MAKMSME Methodology of Analysis for Knowledge Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, focuses on the phase of analysis and requirements gathering to support the development of a Knowledge Management System. This work also presents a case study with the results of the application of the methodology in a small Brazilian company and the analysis of results obtained in this application.

A aplicação da Gestão do Conhecimento cresce a cada ano, especialmente em empresas de grande porte. Apesar de ser uma ferramenta capaz de oferecer vantagem competitiva, pequenas e médias empresas ainda tem dificuldade de aplica-la devido a falta de metodologias formais com ênfase em pequenas e médias empresas. Esse trabalho apresenta uma proposta de metodologia para guiar pequenas e médias empresas na realização de projetos de Gestão do Conhecimento. Por meio de um método sequencial e repetível a metodologia desenvolvida neste trabalho de pesquisa e denominada MAGCPME Metodologia de Análise para Gestão do Conhecimento em Pequenas e Médias Empresas, tem como foco a fase de análise e levantamento de requisitos para o desenvolvimento de Sistemas para Gestão do Conhecimento. Esse trabalho também apresenta um estudo de caso com o resultado da aplicação da metodologia MAGCPME em uma pequena empresa brasileira e a análise dos resultados obtidos desta aplicação. / Application of Knowledge Management is growing every year, especially in large companies. Despite all the benefits it can provide, small companies still have difficulty implementing it due to lack formal methodologies with an emphasis on small and medium enterprises. This work proposes a methodology to guide small and medium enterprises to start Knowledge Management projects. Through a sequential and repeatable method the methodology developed on this work called MAKMSME Methodology of Analysis for Knowledge Management in Small and Medium Enterprises, focuses on the phase of analysis and requirements gathering to support the development of a Knowledge Management System. This work also presents a case study with the results of the application of the methodology in a small Brazilian company and the analysis of results obtained in this application.

More than 38% of the U.S. public workforce will likely retire by 2030, which may result in a labor shortage. Business leaders may adopt strategies to mitigate knowledge loss within their organizations by capturing knowledge in a knowledge management system (KMS). The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that information technology (IT) managers use to develop and implement a KMS. The target population consisted of IT managers in a small-sized organization located in northwestern Florida who had implemented a KMS successfully. The conceptual framework for this study was organizational knowledge creation theory. The collection of public documents, execution of semistructured interviews with 5 qualified participants, literature on the topic, and member checking formed the determination of the findings of the study. Using triangulation and coding the data for emergent themes, 6 themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) training, (b) customer focus, (c) policy and governance, (d) leadership and management support, (e) communication and marketing, and (f) business process management. The application of the findings may contribute to social change by identifying strategies that leaders and IT managers from communities and government agencies use in implementing a KMS that may facilitate transparency and open flow of information to citizens, and allow access to timely, civic, and potentially life-enhancing information.

<p><em>Knowledge has become one of the most important assets for companies nowadays. Knowledge Management (KM) uses organizational knowledge as a resource to make companies more competitive. Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) are gaining popularity, however, the failure rate remains high, with many projects not achieving their goals or being shut down early. KMS are often underestimated and treated as normal systems. IS practices do not cover certain aspects specific to KMS, aspects that do not show in other IS (e.g. socio-cultural issues). There are many studies concerning the KMS failures but they just focus on the symptoms and do not provide a solution to the problem. The goal of this master’s dissertation is to generate a preventive tool that will help the KM field. With The experience gained by working in a real KMS project within a textile agency in Sweden and relevant literature, an Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT) for KMS was developed. As some authors suggest, KM needs an ISDT of it’s own. An ISDT will guide practitioners through the process by restricting practices and features of the system to a more effective set. It will also encourage the academia to work on this theory for its improvement, completion, and validation</em></p>

Αυτή η διδακτορική διατριβή αφορά στην εννοιολογική και λειτουργική ολοκλήρωση των Συστημάτων Υποστήριξης Ομαδικών Αποφάσεων και Διαχείρισης Οργανωσιακής Γνώσης. Η προτεινόμενη προσέγγιση αποτελεί μια καινοτόμο προσπάθεια συγκερασμού και διεύρυνσης των δυνατοτήτων που παρέχονται από υπάρχουσες τεχνικές και των δύο παραπάνω επιστημονικών περιοχών, με στόχο τόσο την πληρέστερη κάλυψη των ολοένα αυξανόμενων αναγκών των χρηστών που εμπλέκονται σε σχετικά προβλήματα, όσο και την αποτελεσματικότερη αξιοποίηση της γνώσης ενός οργανισμού. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη διατυπωμένη ανάγκη για μια ολοκληρωμένη προσέγγιση, η διατριβή επιχειρεί τη σύνθεση αρχών και τεχνικών από διάφορα πεδία έρευνας, υποστηρίζοντας ότι η διαχείριση γνώσης και η λήψη αποφάσεων δε θα πρέπει να αντιμετωπίζονται ως χωριστές διαδικασίες. Προς αυτή την κατεύθυνση, προτείνεται ένα πλαίσιο ολοκλήρωσής τους. Αναγνωρίζοντας ότι σε αυτού του είδους τα περιβάλλοντα σημαντικό ρόλο παίζει η ενεργή συμμετοχή των ληπτών αποφάσεων στις διαδικασίες διανομής της γνώσης, η προτεινόμενη προσέγγιση προτείνει επίσης ένα πλαίσιο ενίσχυσης της συμμετοχής τους στις σχετικές διαδικασίες. Το προτεινόμενο πλαίσιο ολοκλήρωσης υποστηρίζεται από ένα πρωτότυπο εργαλείο λογισμικού, το οποίο αναπτύχθηκε στα πλαίσια της διατριβής. Στο προτεινόμενο εργαλείο, η ολοκλήρωση των διαδικασιών λήψης ομαδικών αποφάσεων και διαχείρισης οργανωσιακής γνώσης επιτυγχάνεται μέσω ενός Γράφου Συζήτησης, ο οποίος απεικονίζει το διάλογο που αναπτύσσεται μεταξύ των εμπλεκομένων στη λήψη μιας απόφασης. Ο βασισμένος σε επιχειρηματολογία διάλογος δομείται και αξιολογείται βάσει κοινά αποδεκτών Πλαισίων Λήψης Αποφάσεων και Μηχανισμών Αξιολόγησης. Οι λειτουργίες του προτεινόμενου εργαλείου, καθώς και η οργάνωση των σχετικών δεδομένων και γνώσης βασίζονται σε ένα πρωτότυπο μοντέλο οντολογίας, το οποίο επίσης αναπτύχθηκε στα πλαίσια της διατριβής. Η συνολική προσέγγιση υποστηρίζει και διευκολύνει τόσο την ομαδική λήψη αποφάσεων, όσο και την απόκτηση, εκμαίευση, επεξεργασία, αποθήκευση και διανομή της οργανωσιακής γνώσης. / Decision making is widely considered as a fundamental organizational activity that comprises a series of knowledge management tasks. Admitting that the quality of a decision depends on the quality of the knowledge used to make it, it has been widely argued that the enhancement of the decision making efficiency and effectiveness is strongly related to the appropriate exploitation of all possible organizational knowledge resources. Taking the above remarks into account, this PhD thesis presents a human-centred, multidisciplinary approach for the integration of Group Decision Support and Organizational Knowledge Management Systems. Towards this end, a conceptual framework that properly interweaves concepts, theories and practices from the Knowledge Management, Argumentation Theory, Decision Making and Multicriteria Decision Aid disciplines is first introduced. Acknowledging that in collaborative settings the decision makers’ active participation in the knowledge sharing processes is of major importance, the proposed approach also introduces a framework for the leveraging of their participation in the related processes. Furthermore, in order to functionally integrate the decision support and knowledge management processes, a software tool that fully supports the above two frameworks was developed. The core component of the proposed tool is a Discourse Graph that serves the visualization of the argumentative discourses taking place between the involved parties. In order to better support decision making, these discourses are structured and evaluated according to a set of commonly accepted Decision Making Frameworks and a set of Scoring Mechanisms that comply with broadly used Multicriteria Decision Aid models and techniques. Being based on a well-defined ontology model, the proposed approach enables the members of a group to collaborate and accomplish a common understanding. Furthermore, it facilitates the capturing of the organizational knowledge in order to augment teamwork in terms of knowledge acquisition, elicitation, processing, storage and sharing, thus further enhancing the decision making quality.

Organisations make use of a variety of knowledge management systems (KMS) in order to facilitate the creation, storage, transfer and reuse of organisational knowledge. Metadata is used to describe knowledge by its attributes and to provide the context, quality, condition or other characteristics of knowledge assets. This thesis explores the way in which metadata is being used in KMS. It provides an analysis of the types of metadata used for the descriptIon of knowledge documents at the semantic level and complements other research on the evaluation of KMS by focusing on the use of metadata, adopting a user perspective. The empirical work was carried out through case study research in two highly knowledge-intensive companies, a motorsport engineering company and a pharmaceutical company. Data collection tools included field visits, documentation, surveys and interviews. The findings demonstrate the level of users' satisfaction with the KMS and metadata and their readiness to create metadata when contributing a knowledge document to the KMS. Demographic factors, such as gender, age, qualifications, and years working with the company, are analysed in conjunction with attitudes towards the KMS and metadata The two metadata schemes used in each company are mapped semantically to the widely used Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMI), in order to identify good practice in designing a metadata scheme for a KMS From the mapping, the basis of a metadata framework is created, intended to be used as a checklist for the development of comprehensive metadata schemes for the description of knowledge documents. The metadata management processes of the two companies are analysed to propose guidelines for the development of a metadata management strategy.

Models are incredibly insidious; they slide undetected into discussions and then dominate the way people think. Since Information Systems (ISs) and particularly Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) are socio-technical systems, they unconsciously embrace the characteristics of the dominant models of management thinking. Thus, their limitations can often be attributed to the deficiencies of the organizational models they aim to support. Through the case study of a hotel chain, this research suggests that contemporary KMSs in the hospitality sector are still grounded in the assumptions of the mechanistic organizational model which conceives an organization as a rigid hierarchical entity governed from the top. Despite the recent technological advances in terms of supporting dialogue and participation between members, organizational knowledge is still transferred vertically; from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top. A number of limitations still exist in terms of supporting effectively the transfer of knowledge horizontally between the geographically distributed units of an organization. Inspired from the key concepts of the more recent complex systems model, referred frequently as complexity theories, a Knowledge Management Architecture (KMA) is proposed aiming to re-conceptualize the existing KMSs towards conceiving an organization as a set self-organizing communities of practice (CoP). In every such CoP, order is created from the dynamic exchange of knowledge between the structurally similar community members. Thus, the focus of the KMA is placed on capturing systematically for reuse the architectural knowledge created upon every initiative for change and share such knowledge with the rest of the members of the CoP. A KMS was also developed to support the dynamic dimensions that the KMA proposes. The KMS was then applied in the case of the hotel chain, where it brought significant benefits which constitute evidence of an improved self-organizing ability. The previously isolated hotel units residing in distant regions could now trace but also reapply easily changes undertaken by the other community members. Top-management’s intervention to promote change was reduced, while the pace of change increased. Moreover, the organizational cohesion, the integration of new members as well as the level of management alertness was enhanced. The case of the hotel chain is indicative. It is believed that the KMA proposed can be applicable to geographically distributed organizations operating in different sectors too. At the same time, this research contributes to the recent discourse between the fields of IS and complexity by demonstrating how fundamental concepts from complexity such as self-organization, emergence and edge-of-chaos can be embraced by contemporary KMSs.

Since September 11, 2001, the United States Government (USG) has possessed unparalleled capability in terms of dedicated intelligence and information collection assets supporting the analysts of the Intelligence Community (IC). The USG IC has sponsored, developed, and borne witness to extraordinary advances in technology, techniques, and procedures focused on knowledge harvesting, knowledge sharing, and collaboration. Knowledge, within successful (effective & productive) organizations, exists as a commodity; a commodity that can be created, captured, imparted, shared, and leveraged. The research problem that this study addressed is the challenge of maintaining strong organizational effectiveness and productivity through the use of an information technology-based knowledge management system (KMS). The main goal of this study was to empirically assess a model testing the impact of the factors of rewards, power, centrality, trust, collaborative environment, resistance to share, ease-of-using KMS, organizational structure, and top management support to inducement, willingness to share, as well as opportunity to contribute knowledge to a KMS on knowledge-sharing in a highly classified and sensitive environment of the USG IC. This study capitalized on prior literature to measure each of the 15 model constructs. This study was conducted with a select group of USG Departments and Agencies whose primary interest is Intelligence Operations. This study solicited responses from more than 1,000 current, as well as former, Intelligence Analysts of the USG IC, using an unclassified anonymous survey instrument. A total of 525 (52.5%) valid responses were analyzed using a partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM) statistical technique to perform model testing. Pre-analysis data screening was conducted to ensure the accuracy of the data collected, as well as to correct irregularities or errors within the gathered data. The 14 propositions outlined in this research study were tested using the PLS-SEM analysis along with reliability and validity checks. The results of this study provide insights into the key factors that shed light onto the willingness of US intelligence community analysts to contribute knowledge to a KMS in a highly classified and sensitive environment. Specifically, the significance of a knowledge worker’s willingness to contribute his/her knowledge to a KMS along with the opportunity to contribute knowledge, while inducement was not a significant factor when it comes to knowledge sharing using KMS in highly classified environments.

For several years now, the healthcare service has been facing major recruitment challenges where the shortage of nurses is a reality. As time goes by and experienced employees leave the profession, managers are facing a transition to not only having a lack of resources but also a lack of competence. Insufficient staffing or competence can create negative consequences and further aggravate the basic problem of competence management. The overall purpose of this study is to create knowledge about the situation of unit managers regarding the competence management of nurses, by examining what conditions and tools   unit managers have in their leadership to handle this. The study examines the conditions and tools that unit managers describe that they have for managing competence and need thereof in the department. What tools regarding competence management / needs, how the tools look like and how they are used in relation to competence management, and whether the unit manager lacks any tools. Finally, the study describes how the unit manager handles the unit’s competence needs and competence management, through leadership. The study is based on theories in competence management, learning organizations, learning in the workplace and leadership. Specifically, four different departments are examined at an emergency hospital in central Sweden using a qualitative method. The empirical material comes from completed semi-structured interviews with a total of eight unit managers, which were analyzed based on a qualitative content analysis approach. The results of the study show how the unit managers have adopted different strategies for working with the prevailing competence management situation. Competence management is mostly described in terms of competence development. The unit managers describe limitations regarding the shortage of nurses and there are major challenges regarding the competence level of the department. The unit managers describe a need for a larger proportion of the group of nurses who have solid professional experience within the specialty of the   department. The results show different obstacles at different levels, where the goal to have a long-term and forward-looking focus, may stand aside. The unit managers describe that other things take up their time, where a large proportion of the worktime is spent on staffing, with the right competence. The study shows how the unit managers use or develop their own competence tools to facilitate competence management. Support from the organisation is in many issues lacking but demanded. About half of the unit managers use the region's competence tools. The unit manages describes some elements of a learning organization, but the holistic approach for the entire hospital is not in focus. Leadership is described as clear, present and that the goals of the unit are linked to the employees' motivation and development needs. The lack of nurses remaining, and the lack of experienced nurses in the unit affects the unit managers' daily work. A large part of the worktime is spent on recruitment, but also on constantly developing the competence of the employees in order to ensure good patient care.

In today's knowledge economy, intellectual capabilities are one of the most important resources for organizations. Attempts have therefore been made to consolidate knowledge and facilitate knowledge sharing within organizations. For this purpose, many organizations turn to knowledge management systems. This study aims to investigate the barriers and enablers that affect the use of knowledge management systems for virtual teams within the public sector. To investigate this, we have conducted a qualitative case study of one of the largest multi-entity projects ever conducted within the Swedish public sector, and their use of their knowledge management system “Muster”. Our findings suggest there are multiple barriers and enablers for knowledge management use. Furthermore, our findings reveal that most enablers are related to organizational factors whilst barriers consist of both organizational and system factors.The barriers are limited access, inadequate routines, and lack of informal meetings in virtual teams. The last one we found to be unique for virtual teams. The enablers are importance of knowledge, organizational attitude, and routines for knowledge capture and storage. This suggests that duality of routines is present and a factor in knowledge management system use.