The field of technical consultancy is centered around the value that each individual consultant can provide. This value has its ground in the set of skills and knowledge which the consultant possesses, and from an organizational standpoint, must be probably managed as to be fully utilized within the organization. The knowledge that consultants acquire during project missions is not every fully utilized within the base organization, due to the restrictions of knowledge barriers, prohibiting the transfer and retention of knowledge.    Knowledge management therefore becomes an important aspect to consider in the technical consultancy field, as technology is constantly changing at a higher pace. This are of knowledge management has been neglected in the past, as most research regard knowledge management focus on more linear organization and management consultancy. This report aims to identify what and how knowledge barriers are created within the technical consultancy field and how the barriers affect knowledge acquisitions, transfer, and retention. This report follows a qualitative study approach, with semi structured interviews of 12 managers in key positions at 9 consulting firms, ranging from senior consultancy managers to senior consultants.    The results of the empirical study identified 19 knowledge barriers affecting knowledge acquisition, transfer, and retention. The aspect of knowledge and organizational culture was found to be a foundational part of KM affecting the entire cycle of KM. The major barriers related to technical consultancy holding specialized and diverse knowledge, a lack of adequate knowledge management systems implemented, economic factors affecting KM utilization, market drivers creating barriers and internal as well as external cultural factors affecting the KM cycle.

The Semantic Web is the vision of the future Web. Its aim is to enable machines to process Web documents in a way that makes it possible for the computer software to "understand" the meaning of the document contents. Each document on the Semantic Web is to be enriched with meta-data that express the semantics of its contents. Many infrastructures, technologies and standards have been developed and have proven their theoretical use for the Semantic Web, yet very few applications have been created. Most of the current Semantic Web applications were developed for research purposes. This project investigates the major factors restricting the wide spread of Semantic Web applications. We identify the two most important requirements for a successful implementation as the automatic production of the semantically annotated document, and the creation and maintenance of semantic based knowledge base. This research proposes a framework for Semantic Web implementation based on context-oriented controlled automatic Annotation; for short, we called the framework the Semantic Web Implementation Framework (SWIF) and the system that implements this framework the Semantic Web Implementation System (SWIS). The proposed architecture provides for a Semantic Web implementation of stand-alone websites that automatically annotates Web pages before being uploaded to the Intranet or Internet, and maintains persistent storage of Resource Description Framework (RDF) data for both the domain memory, denoted by Control Knowledge, and the meta-data of the Web site's pages. We believe that the presented implementation of the major parts of SWIS introduce a competitive system with current state of art Annotation tools and knowledge management systems; this is because it handles input documents in the ii context in which they are created in addition to the automatic learning and verification of knowledge using only the available computerized corporate databases. In this work, we introduce the concept of Control Knowledge (CK) that represents the application's domain memory and use it to verify the extracted knowledge. Learning is based on the number of occurrences of the same piece of information in different documents. We introduce the concept of Verifiability in the context of Annotation by comparing the extracted text's meaning with the information in the CK and the use of the proposed database table Verifiability_Tab. We use the linguistic concept Thematic Role in investigating and identifying the correct meaning of words in text documents, this helps correct relation extraction. The verb lexicon used contains the argument structure of each verb together with the thematic structure of the arguments. We also introduce a new method to chunk conjoined statements and identify the missing subject of the produced clauses. We use the semantic class of verbs that relates a list of verbs to a single property in the ontology, which helps in disambiguating the verb in the input text to enable better information extraction and Annotation. Consequently we propose the following definition for the annotated document or what is sometimes called the 'Intelligent Document' 'The Intelligent Document is the document that clearly expresses its syntax and semantics for human use and software automation'. This work introduces a promising improvement to the quality of the automatically generated annotated document and the quality of the automatically extracted information in the knowledge base. Our approach in the area of using Semantic Web iii technology opens new opportunities for diverse areas of applications. E-Learning applications can be greatly improved and become more effective.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, 2006. / Bibliography: p. 253-276. / Introduction -- Knowledge and knowledge management systems -- Towards a measurement model of KMS success -- Research methodology -- Data analyses and results -- Conclusions and implications. / Knowledge management is becoming pervasive in organizations. Information technology (IT) has been widely used in organizational knowledge management initiatives, and organizations continue to invest in IT expecting that its use will improve knowledge workers' productivity and organizational performance. -- Knowledge management systems (KMS) are information technology applications designed for knowledge management. The pervasive use of KMS in organizations has raised crucial concerns about the use and value of KMS, which can be expressed as two key questions: - What are the key determinants to the users' acceptance and use of KMS in their daily work? - What is the actual role of KMS in the support of knowledge management? -- For this thesis, empirical research was conducted on KMS success in organizations from a social capital perspective, aiming to tackle these critical questions. Based on a review of existing studies on knowledge management and information systems success, two KMS research models are developed, namely a Socio-Technical System Framework of KMS and an Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST)-based KMS Success Model. The socio-technical framework model of KMS sets out the main KMS components and the interrelationships between these components, presenting a systematic view of KMS in organizations. The AST-based KMS success model represents dynamic and evolutionary KMS in organizations, proposing a system-to-value chain of KMS success linking KMS use to social capital, and to intellectual capital. In the research, the two models have been operationalized; consequently, a set of theoretical hypotheses has been derived. -- A set of survey instruments has been developed or adapted for the study. A preliminary study is used to test, adapt, and modify the new instruments. A web-based cross-sectional survey is conducted, and a sample of 362 knowledge workers from a variety of organizations enables the researcher to further validate the new instruments, assess the research models, and test the hypothesized relationships through structural equation modeling techniques (PLS and LISREL). The results provide clear evidence of the newly developed instruments' reliability, validity, and general applicability, and demonstrate that the research models have good explanatory power for the variances in the KMS use and social capital constructs. Significantly, the study has confirmed that KMS does have the expected significant positive effects on individual social capital development, a critical social infrastructure for knowledge management. The significant positive impacts of KMS use on three dimensions of social capital-structural, relational, and cognitive dimension-have been assessed, and significant findings have been achieved. Moreover, a set of potential critical determinants to users' acceptance and use of KMS has also been assessed in the study. The results have demonstrated the different levels of impacts of these factors on the users' acceptance and use of KMS. -- Based on the research results, recommendations are made for managers, and implications have been drawn for future research. -- Keywords: Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), KMS success measurement, performance-related use of KMS, structural equation modeling, social capital. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / ix, 277, A23 p. ill

Knowledge Management aims to improve organisational performance and it marks the beginning of organisational transformation. The two types of knowledge managed are respectively categorised “tacit” and “explicit.” This research investigated the effectiveness of Knowledge Management for organisational transformation in Namibia. It was necessitated by the lack of knowledge sharing among employees and also lack of appropriate tools for effective Knowledge Management. Moreover, some organisations engage in Knowledge Management practices without a full understanding of the processes involved. This was determined by a through literature review which indicated that there were very few studies conducted on Knowledge Management in Namibia as shown on Table 1.1 on page 6. The study therefore provided a nuanced understanding of Knowledge Management. The study additionally established that the use of appropriate tools and technologies to better manage the knowledge ultimately improves organisational performance. The research objectives sought to explore the initiatives deployed to enable knowledge sharing, identify barriers to effective Knowledge Management, analyse the role of social media for knowledge sharing and also measure the effectiveness of the knowledge transfer activities. A mixed method research methodology was used to conduct this investigation. Participants were selected through purposive sampling. Out of 130 questionnaires distributed, 112 were fully completed and returned. This represented an 86.1% response rate. The results of the study revealed that organisational transformation is dependent on effective Knowledge Management. In addition to that, the study found that there is a correlation of 0.6 between Information Technology and Knowledge Management. The study further revealed that initiatives to enable knowledge sharing start with executive support and the employees should be motivated to share knowledge. More so, it was also found that lack of funds for Knowledge Management projects is the greatest barrier in organisations. Effective Knowledge Management is facilitated by social media. Finally, it was found that the most effective knowledge transfer activity is a collaborative virtual workspace followed by Communities of Practice. / School of Computing / M.Sc. (Computing)

The intensifying value of learning, competence, and knowledge motivates decisions toward implementing knowledge management systems (KMS) to capitalize on the potential benefits of facilitating knowledge sharing, collecting, storing, and dissemination on a global scale. However, these systems frequently remain underutilized, and organizations encounter obstacles to achieve their proposed outcome. The case company experienced practical problems regarding a newly implemented KMS. The system was largely unused for a specific process. Therefore, this case study investigates the factors affecting KMS adoption and utilization for the technical training process by capturing the perspectives of the intended system users and management. A combination of KMS success factors and The Theory of Affordances were applied to generate knowledge regarding how factors affected the usage of the KMS. It was found that Management Involvement, Organizational Culture and Structure, Employee Commitment, Perceived Benefits, System Complexity, and Compatibility and Conformity influenced the users' KMS utilization outcomes. A conceptual framework was developed to show how these factors affected individuals' affordances process.

To increase competitive advantage, organizations are developing how they manage internalknowledge. This has been tackled by implementing various Knowledge Management Systems,which have been developed based on the needs of specific teams and/or latest trends. Suchapproach is problematic since it does not take into consideration what the users currentKnowledge Management practices are, nor if the system is relevant for a larger mass.The purpose of this thesis is to identify what requirements from users, regarding content andfeatures, are relevant to focus on when designing a Knowledge Management System, targetedtowards knowledge intensive businesses. To examine this, an exploratory research approachhas been applied on a global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) company.100 semi-structured interviews were conducted, with employees located at various globallocations and with varying job roles, in order to get a detailed picture of the user requirementson a Knowledge Management System. The interviews were later sorted and analysed by usingthe Technology Acceptance Model, and quantified by calculating the frequency count on thedifferent requirements. The findings were later reduced, based on their generalizability, inorder to facilitate a list of user requirements that are relevant to focus on, when constructing aknowledge management system for a knowledge intensive business.The results show that there are several aspects to consider in the creation of a KnowledgeManagement System, meant for a knowledge intensive business. The majority of these aspectsare related to increased findability of relevant & updated document and colleagues, receiveinformation about internal operations and lessons learnt from previous projects. Examples ofthese requirements are a semantic search engine, news feed and interconnected repositories.

This qualitative study is of the interpretivist nature and it aims to examine how knowledge workers perceive their interaction with a knowledge management system when used for knowledge sharing purposes. The purpose is to offer answers to two research questions: How do knowledge workers perceive their interaction with knowledge management technology in relation to knowledge sharing? What are the benefits and challenges that knowledge workers experience in relation to knowledge managing and sharing when using a KMS system? The data was collected by applying qualitative research methods and by conducting five interviews with participants of an IT organization that has its head office in Sweden, but additional offices in other geographical locations. To be able to study the participants´ perception and the benefits of the use on both local and international levels, the interviewees were chosen from different sites in which their organization was operating. To provide the answers to these questions and to establish the foundation of this research, an extensive literature review on the problem area was carried out, and a theoretical framework has been employed to study the different aspects of this model in the context of knowledge management systems in relation to knowledge sharing among knowledge workers. As a result, additional derived attributes came from the findings and it is shown that users tend to relate knowledge quality with the completeness, frequency of update, and validity of the knowledge content that they are exposed to in the KMS. Similarly, they relate KMS quality to administrability and maintenance easiness, whereas organizational service providing quality in relation to knowledge sharing is more related to the aspects of organizational commitment and reliability. Moreover, the findings show that participants relate their intention to use the KMS to the attributes of convenience and practicality, and the levels of user satisfaction were in this case mainly related to the user´s perception of usefulness. Lastly, the perception of the benefits and reciprocal value-creating for both the organization and the individual was examined and the findings show that the users tend to relate these to the aspect of relevance, or in other words that the benefits are only perceived as useful by the user if they are identifiable, respectively the user being aware of the benefits and perceiving them as relevant.

Existing literature indicates that although both academics and practitioners recognize knowledge management (KM) as a source of competitive advantage, users are not always willing to use a knowledge management system (KMS). Because of the social nature of knowledge transfer, a KMS can be considered a socio-technical system. Many explanations have been presented for this failure to utilize the KMS. These explanations include a number of the socio-technical factors relating to people, processes, and technologies. While these factors may have significant explanatory power when examined independently, existing studies have not sufficiently addressed the interactions among all three socio-technical factors or their impacts on KMS usage. The goal of this study was to develop a comprehensive understanding of socio-technical factors that impact KMS usage within decision support systems (DSS). A comprehensive framework was presented that will be helpful in developing and improving KMS initiatives and thus improving KM across the organization. This study identified factors of people (self-efficacy, social ties, and ease of use), processes (leadership, culture/climate, and governance), and technologies (system & information quality, and technology fit) and their influence on KMS system usage. Analysis for this problem required a causal, non-contrived field study employing structural equation modeling. Founded on socio-technical systems theory, nine hypotheses were proposed. Data was collected using a 36 item survey distributed to KMS users from a variety of industries in the United States. Confirmatory factor analysis and an eight-stage structural equation modeling procedure were used to analyze 97 usable responses. The results confirmed that technology-oriented factors predicted knowledge seeking and contributing in DSS. Furthermore, significant positive relationships were confirmed between certain sociotechnical factors including: (1) people and process, (2) people and technology, (3) processes and technology, (4) processes and people, (5) technology and people, and (6) technology and processes. These findings extend the relevance and statistical power of existing studies on KMS usage. This study indicated that the most important concerns for increasing KMS usage were system quality, information quality, and technology fit. Results also confirmed that in the context of this study, people-oriented factors (self-efficacy, social ties, and ease of use/usefulness) and organizational process factors (leadership, organizational culture/climate, and governance) were not critical factors directly responsible for increasing KMS usage. However, the relationships among socio-technical factors all had positive significant relationships. Therefore, investments in people and process-oriented factors will create a more favorable perspective on technology-oriented factors, which in turn can increase KMS usage. On a practical front, this study provided indicators to managers regarding a number of desirable and undesirable conditions that should be taken into consideration when developing or implementing knowledge management initiatives and the systems to support them. This study offered an original contribution to the existing bodies of knowledge on socio-technical factors and KMS usage behavior. The constructs presented in this study highlighted the significance of social and technical relationships in understanding knowledge seeking and contribution in a decision-driven organization.

The emergence of Web 2.0 tools has transformed the operation of Knowledge Management (KM) practices in the academic libraries. This study has investigated the application of Web 2.0 tools to enhance KM practices in academic libraries in Tanzania. Eight out of twelve academic libraries located in public universities in Tanzania were purposively selected in this study. The study included two categories of respondents: ordinary library staff and senior library staff (directors, heads of libraries, library managers, and Information and Technology (IT) specialists in the library etc). The findings of the study were determined after applying methodological triangulation within quantitative and qualitative research contexts. This included the use of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observations. In the first instance, questionnaires were used to collect data from 278 library staff selected using systematic sampling technique. Interviewing targeted 69 senior library staff was done using purposive sampling technique. In total, 254 (91.4%) ordinary library staff completed the questionnaire; while 57 (82.6%) senior librarians were interviewed. The study findings have indicated the low level of KM application in academic libraries. Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science (MUHAS) Library showed the strongest application of KM practices, followed by State University of Zanzibar (SUZA) Library. Lack of KM enablers in academic libraries was indicated as one of the significant challenges that hinder the application of KM practices in academic libraries. It was noted that most of the academic libraries visited had websites. On the other hand, the majority of respondents acknowledged that they had personal accounts of the various Web 2.0 tools. The study findings imply that most library staff had some level of experience with a variety of Web 2.0 tools. It was further established that despite the high level of familiarity and use of Web 2.0 tools, respondents were not frequent users of their library websites. The study findings have also indicated a low level of access and use of Web 2.0 tools within academic libraries. Mzumbe University (MU) and SUZA Libraries were the main users of Web 2.0 tools; followed by University of Dar-es-Salaam (UDSM) Library. Knowledge Management System (KMS) Success Model was employed to investigate factors that affect the application of Web 2.0 tools to enhance KM practices. The study findings have demonstrated that the KMS Success Model is suitable for guiding the understanding of the contributing factors with respect to library staff‟s intention to reuse Web 2.0 tools. The study findings supported the KMS Success Model well, whereby seven of the twelve hypothesised relationships were found to be significant. The study recommends that academic libraries in Tanzania should promote and integrate KM practices in their daily operations as well as the use of KM enablers such as; reliable budget, Web 2.0 tools, reliable power supply, internet connectivity availability and adequate ICTs infrastructure. / Information Science / D. Litt. et. Phil. (Information Science)

This study has been conducted with Sirius International as a case company. The investigation has revolved around the weaknesses Sirius, along with the authors, have identified concerning the international collaboration and communication. It was later shown that these problems were based on a low sense of unity in the organization as a result of the lack of knowledge sharing, knowledge management, and spread of organization related information. It was decided to evaluate whether a corporate social network (CSN) could assist in these problems and if so, decide what system would be the most appropriate in regards to the internal needs and requirements at Sirius. The major challenges brought on with an implementation of a CSN, and how to face these, were investigated as a part of the evaluation whether a CSN would be appropriate for Sirius or not. The study showed that a CSN was an appropriate choice for Sirius in order to improve the international communication, collaboration, and unity. The most suitable choice was determined to be Yammer, as it best suited the internal requirements and needs. Along with these results, the largest challenge with an implementation and future use of the system was user acceptance and overall usage of the system. If the CSN is not used, none of the visions, goals, or purposes will be fulfilled. / Denna studie har gjorts med Sirius International som case-företag. Undersökningen har kretsat kring svagheterna som Sirius, tillsammans med författarna har identifierat kring det internationella samarbetet och kommunikationen. Det visade sig senare att dessa problem var grundade i en låg känsla av samhörighet i organisationen och att detta var ett resultat av den låga nivån av kunskapsspridning, kunskapshantering och spridning av organisationsrelaterad information. Beslutet togs att undersöka huruvida ett företags-baserat socialt nätverk kunde hjälpa vid dessa problem och, om fallet var sådant, komma fram till vilket socialt nätverk som skulle vara mest lämpat vid avseende på de interna behoven och kraven från Sirius. Vid undersökningen om huruvida ett socialt nätverk var lämpligt för Sirius gjordes också en undersökning för att identifiera de största utmaningarna med en implementation av ett socialt nätverk och hur dessa skall bemötas och övervinnas. Studien visade att ett företagsbaserat socialt nätverk var ett lämpligt val för att överkomma problemen i Sirius och förbättra den internationella kommunikationen, samarbetet och samhörigheten. Det lämpligaste sociala nätverket för Sirius blev Yammer som bäst täckte de interna behoven och kraven hos Sirius. Tillsammans med dessa resultat visade undersökningen att den största utmaningen med en implementation och framtida nyttjande av systemet var användaracceptans och generell användning av systemet. Om ett socialt nätverk inte används så kan inga av visionerna, målen eller syftena med systemet infrias.