The purpose of this research is to understand the knowledge sharing behavior of employees of a company through the Lotus Notes groupware. This research adopted the quality research method. Top 20 employees who had highest frequencies of knowledge sharing were selected based on the Lotus Notes database of the target company. An one-one interview with these top 20 employees was proceeded. Finally, 13 employees accepted a comprehensive interview. The impact factors of knowledge sharing behavior can be classified into three levels: individual, group and organization. The related factors of the knowledge sharing behavior will also affected by each other. In the aspects of the individual level, there are four main factors, which include altruism, working attitude, inspiration and individual capability. Regarding the group level, the main factors include the attitude of manager, cooperation requirement, mutual benefit, communication, trust and partnership. As for the organizational level, job position, information technology, organizational culture, knowledge management system and the category of knowledge are the main impact factors. For each main factor, more details are explored. Overall, this research has provided a comprehensive framework of the impact factors of the employees¡¦ knowledge sharing behaviors of the target company. Hopefully, it can serve as the foundation for future research.

The potential importance of managing knowledge for competitive advantage has been widely discussed according to Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995), with the sharing and application of knowledge being widely identified in recent years as key sources of sustained competitive advantage (Hall & Sapsed 2005, p57). While Alavi and Leidner (2001, p216) agree that much theory already exists on knowledge management, they argue that little empirical work has been undertaken and hence there are large gaps in the body of knowledge in this area. Bresnen, Edelman, Newell, Scarbrough, and Swan (2003) further suggest that only recently has attention been specifically directed towards managing knowledge in project environments. Evidence of poor IT project success continues to be provided by many researchers even though today's corporations recognize that to be successful, they need to understand modern project management techniques (Schwalbe 2002, p2). With Kotnour (2000) finding that project performance is positively associated with project knowledge, a better understanding of how to effectively manage knowledge in IT projects should have considerable practical significance for increasing the chances of project success. The focus of this research centres on the question of why individuals working within IT project teams might be motivated towards, or inhibited from, sharing their knowledge and experience in their activities, procedures, and processes. Using a combined qualitative/quantitative method of data collection in multiple case studies spanning four continents, and comprising a variety of organisational types, the research concludes with the development of a new theoretical model of knowledge sharing behaviour, &quotThe Alignment Model of Motivational Focus". This model suggests that an individual's propensity to share knowledge and experience is a function of perceived personal benefits and costs associated with the activity, balanced against the individual's alignment to a group of 'institutional' factors. These factors are identified as alignments to the project team, to the organisation, and dependent on the circumstances, to either the professional discipline or community of practice, to which the individual belongs. The model might be used within knowledge intensive projects, to help identify an individual's latent propensity to share knowledge, and to identify actions that may need to be taken in order to modify knowledge sharing behaviour.

Knowledge is one of the most central driving forces in today’s economy. Thus, organizations need to recognize knowledge as a valuable resource and develop tools for tapping into the collective intelligence and create a greater organizational knowledge base. However, to stay competitive on today’s global marketplace actors must collaborate and share knowledge across organizational boundaries. Companies must therefore consider barriers to knowledge sharing. While the importance of knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries has been highlighted, researchers emphasize that an interesting factor to examine in further research is the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to mitigate barriers for knowledge sharing. The purpose with this study is to explore in what way ICT may be used to mitigate barriers for knowledge sharing between individual forest landowners and forest companies within the Swedish forest industry. The study is divided into two research questions: (1) What critical barriers for knowledge sharing exist between individual forest landowners and forest companies within the Swedish forest industry? and (2) In what way may ICT be used to mitigate barriers for knowledge sharing between individual forest landowners and forest companies. To answer the research questions, a multiple case study consisting of 23 interviews was conducted with forest consultants, forest landowners and forest companies. In addition to prior literature regarding individual, organizational and technology barriers, our study emphasize that firms also must consider inter-organizational barriers to knowledge sharing. By mapping the most critical barriers according to individual forest landowners and forest companies, our study assess in what way ICT may be used to mitigate these barriers. In addition, the study contributes with an emerging framework for managers to visualize and prioritize barriers to mitigate, which is useful when planning and evaluating knowledge management activities.

This thesis investigates the knowledge sharing process between individuals working at companies located in business centres. Through literature review and user-centred approaches taken from interaction design methodologies, I find clear patterns indicating that knowledge sharing can create individual, organizational, communal and in the long- term also societal growth. Throughout this thesis project I examine knowledge sharing in the specific context of business centres and highlight motivations and barriers in this process. In doing so I find that motivations for inter-organizational knowledge sharing exists amongst the intended users, but that these motivations are seldom realised into action. This is shown to be greatly related to the lack of a digital presence that considers the barriers in knowledge sharing, which opens up for possible design solutions. The project concludes in a high fidelity prototype of a CSCW-platform with the goal of increasing the knowledge sharing culture by giving users a greater awareness over individuals in their near surroundings and new ways to connect with these individuals.

Today, the higher education sector in developing countries is facing challenges from a dynamic environment characterised by rapid technological change and increased demand. As innovation becomes critical to the survival of organisations, transformational leadership (TL) has been found to have an important influence on innovation, leading to increased goal-directed behaviour on the part of followers, promoting organisational change, and a spirit of trust, and helping followers to exceed their performance expectations. Knowledge and knowledge sharing are recognised as the most significant resources for competitive advantage and the key to enhancing innovation. It has been shown that knowledge management and the promotion of knowledge sharing among the members of an organisation are an important part of the learning process as they help to convert the tacit knowledge embedded in individuals into explicit knowledge through interaction. Prior literature has pointed out that transformational leadership is one of the most important factors affecting knowledge sharing and enhanced innovation in an organisation. However, there is a lack of models linking transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and innovation within higher education institutions (HEIs) in general within developing countries, particularly Iraq. This study sought to examine the impact of transformational leadership on innovation through the mediating role of knowledge sharing, and the differences between these impacts in public and private HEIs in Iraq. A mixed-methods approach was taken (quantitative and qualitative) and 486 (253 public and 233 private) valid responses were collected to test the causal relationships between transformational leadership, knowledge sharing, and innovation. Then, 10 interviews were conducted with the leaders of HEIs to explain the unexpected findings from the quantitative stage regarding the differences in transformational leadership practice and the effect relationships. Employing structural equation modelling (SEM) with AMOS 20, the study found that knowledge sharing plays a pivotal role in the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation, and that transformational leadership would be ideal in an educational context, promoting knowledge sharing activities and influencing innovation in both the public and the private sector. The multi-group SEM and the interviews revealed similarities and differences between Iraqi public and private HEIs in terms of the effect relationships. The findings contribute significantly to the theory on the mediating role of knowledge sharing in supporting the relationship between transformational leadership and innovation. They also provide a better understanding of these relationships in the educational environment within developing countries, specifically Iraq, a context that has been neglected in previous studies. The study has further detected sector-based differences, and similarities in terms of the transformational leadership exhibited, and has provided a clearer picture of the status of the HEI system in Iraq. Regarding practical implications, the findings show that leaders in higher education who are looking to establish strategies for achieving innovation would benefit from expending their efforts on promoting knowledge-sharing practices among their teaching staff.

Η διαχείριση της γνώσης (knowledge management) αποτελεί ένα σύγχρονο ερευνητικό πεδίο με μεγάλο ενδιαφέρον, τόσο για τον επιχειρηματικό όσο και για τον ακαδημαϊκό κόσμο. Σήμερα, ο τρόπος με τον οποίο οι διάφοροι οικονομικοί οργανισμοί διαχειρίζονται την επιχειρησιακή γνώση καθορίζει το πλαίσιο της επιτυχίας ή της αποτυχίας τους. Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία αποτελεί μια προσπάθεια επιβεβαίωσης και επέκτασης της υπάρχουσας θεωρίας που αφορά στη Διαχείριση της Γνώσης. Μέσα από τη σύνθεση προηγούμενων θεωρητικών και εμπειρικών δεδομένων δημιουργήθηκε ένα Εννοιολογικό Πλαίσιο που εξετάζει την επίδραση μίας από τις πιο σημαντικές διαδικασίες της διαχείρισης της γνώσης, αυτή της Διάχυσης της Γνώσης (Knowledge Sharing), στις ελληνικές εξαγωγικές επιχειρήσεις. Γίνεται μία προσπάθεια αποτύπωσης των πρακτικών διάχυσης γνώσης, που εφαρμόζουν οι ελληνικές εξαγωγικές επιχειρήσεις, τόσο στο εσωτερικό τους, όσο και με τους διανομείς / πελάτες τους στο εξωτερικό. Το συγκεκριμένο Εννοιολογικό Πλαίσιο ελέγχτηκε, με την χρήση ερωτηματολογίου, σε ένα δείγμα 71 ελληνικών εξαγωγικών επιχειρήσεων. Τα δεδομένα αναλύθηκαν με το Spss 20 και η μέθοδος που χρησιμοποιήθηκε είναι η παραγοντική ανάλυση. / Knowledge management is a contemporary research area of great interest, both to the business and the academic world. Nowadays, the way in which various financial organizations manage operational knowledge determines their success or failure. The present study constitutes an effort to confirm and extend the existing theory on Knowledge Management. Through the synthesis of previous theoretical and empirical data we created a Conceptual framework which examines the effect of one of the most important processes of knowledge management, Knowledge Sharing, in the Greek export business. An attempt was made to define the ways in which knowledge sharing is applied by the Greek export companies, both internally as well as with their distributors / customers abroad. This Conceptual framework was checked, using a questionnaire to a sample of 71 Greek export companies. The data were analyzed by using the Spss 20 and Factor analysis method was used to identify the factors.

This thesis is based on the interviews I've done with both teachers and students, as I analyzeand evaluate from a historical educational perspective. I present research on the topic and how the image of the teaching may look differently. Pupils' learning process can vary, and in a society where image is a big part of their life is according to me a pity not to use more pictures in the school, especially in the teaching of history. It is not enough that teachers begin to use more image in his teaching, but they use the images in the right way, where students get the chance to learn how to analyze and interpret the image's meaning and history than just tell you what they see.

Information Technology (IT) bank examiners have difficulty in making practical use of explicit IT knowledge documents stored in the IT examiners' document repository. This repository contains insufficient context to make it immediately and totally relevant to examiners, especially new IT examiners. At times, the document repository is not available for examiners' use due to limited remote access while examiners are in the field or during systems upgrades. In addition, there are no formal mechanisms for validating and updating the content. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether the IT examiners information technology knowledge sharing sessions/community of practice (CoP) provide a mechanism for reusing tangible knowledge assets, transferring knowledge, improving job performance, and providing the kinds of support that benefit IT bank examiners. The participants in this study, eight IT bank examiners, work in the bank information technology regulatory environment. Their skills are in their IT domain areas such as information security, business continuity planning, and systems disaster recovery testing, IT project management, and audit rather than computer programming. Using case study methodologies, the data collected was based on questionnaires, interviews, participant observations - meeting and field notes, and storytelling notes. The field data was analyzed using selected principles from Grounded Theory - constant comparative analysis, narrative pattern analysis, and the ATLAS.ti quantitative analysis software. The study found that the examiners reported, perceived, and believed that IT knowledge sharing sessions facilitated the capturing, validating, and transferring of knowledge among IT bank examiners while improving their individual job performance. Specifically, emerging from the research were eight knowledge transfer themes that supported five benefits/critical functions of the IT knowledge sharing sessions - examiner development, knowledge transfer, social interaction, problem solving, and learning opportunities. However, a community facilitator, mutual trust, and respect among examiners and active participation in the knowledge sharing sessions are essential to the process to enable improved examiner performance and, by extension, organizational performance.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The aim of this study was to propose a model of collaboration adaptable for the optimal use of big data in an organisational environment. There is a paucity of knowledge on such collaboration and the research addressed this gap. More specifically, the research attempted to establish whether leadership, trust and knowledge sharing influence collaboration among the stakeholders identified at large organisations. The conceptual framework underlying this research was informed by collaboration theory and organisational theory. It was assumed that effective collaboration in the optimal use of big data possibly is associated with leadership, knowledge sharing and trust. These concepts were scientifically hypothesised to determine whether such associations exist within the context of big data. The study used a mixed methods approach, combining a qualitative with a quantitative study. The qualitative study was in the form of in-depth interviews with senior managers from different business units at a retail organisation in Cape Town. The quantitative study was an online survey conducted with senior marketing personnel at JSE-listed companies from various industries in Cape Town. A triangulation methodology was adopted, with additional in-depth interviews of big data and analytics experts from both South Africa and abroad, to strengthen the research. The findings of the research indicate the changing role of the statistician in the era of big data and the new discipline of data science. They also confirm the importance of leadership, trust and knowledge sharing in ensuring effective collaboration. Of the three hypotheses tested, two were confirmed. Collaboration has been applied in many areas. Unexpected findings of the research were the role the chief data officer plays in fostering collaboration among stakeholders in the optimal use of big data in marketing strategies, as well as the importance of organisational structure and culture in effective collaboration in the context of big data and data science in large organisations. The research has contributed to knowledge by extending the theory of collaboration to the domain of big data in the organisational context, with the proposal of an integrated model of collaboration in the context of big data. This model was grounded in the data collected from various sources, establishing the crucial new role of the chief data officer as part of the executive leadership and main facilitator of collaboration in the organisation. Collaboration among the specified stakeholders, led by the chief data officer, occurs both horizontally with peers and vertically with specialists at different levels within the organisation in the proposed model. The application of such a model of collaboration should facilitate the successful outcome of the collaborative efforts in data science in the form of financial benefits to the organisation through the optimal use of big data.

Student Number : 9111753K - M M research report - School of Management - Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management / Employee engagement is a critical business issue for South Africa if we are to take this country to the next competitive landscape. South African business has been mired by negative perception of underperformance and uncompetitiveness from the international community for years in the past, with an over-reliance on the mining sector. From 1994, this perception has progressively improved and going forward more urgency from business is required in order to progress even further. Whilst employee engagement represents only one factor amongst a number of macro and micro issues, it is central to this country’s economy, business productivity and sustainability. In attempting to assist business in this regard, a study of factors that promote employee engagement has been investigated. The research was qualitative and quantitative in nature. A number of respondents from across the length and breath of South Africa participated in the study. Analysis was done on the results and correlation done to the propositions and the literature. The findings identified employee engagement strategy, the culture of engagement, leadership and management, talent mindset, communication and knowledge sharing, and organisations’ reputation and branding as prominent factors in business in South Africa. Resulting from the research, an employee engagement model is proposed which attempts to integrate key lessons for business.