In the generational shift, sharing the knowledge of the older generation to the younger coworkers is an important consideration. The aim of this study is to explore knowledge sharing from aging workers to younger workers and the potential of improving knowledge sharing within organizations. A multiple case study was executed in three different organizational contexts: The Municipality, The School and The Manufacturer. The data collection consisted of semi-structured individual interviews, focus interviews, document analyses and statistics. The results were analyzed in within-case and cross-case analysis, triangulated and related to previous research. The conclusion is that knowledge sharing is generally perceived as a ninformal activity and an issue lacking strategic relevance in organizations. There are however possibilities to make knowledge sharing in the generational shift into a legitimate strategic consideration, if activities are formally created to support strategic objectives. A process for choosing and evaluating knowledge sharing programs is presented.

Healthcare is a knowledge-intensive field. A significant quantum of extremely vital and viable healthcare knowledge exists in a tacit form, yet due to various operational and technical reasons such healthcare knowledge is not entirely utilized and put into professional practice. The strong increase in expert work and knowledge-intensive fields make examining the topic timely and hypothetically interesting.The most significant contribution of this study is the increase in understanding, as well as, tacit healthcare knowledge sharing amongst physicians and clinicians with the type of collaborative tools and technologies they have at their disposal. Collaborative tools and technologies help employees of an organization work closely with their colleagues, partner organization and other volunteers as tacit healthcare knowledge sharing among clinicians such as sharing of best practices, tips and tricks, inter professional collaborative networking, clinical experiences and skills are known to have a significant impact on the quality of medical diagnosis and decisions.This paper posits that collaboration tools and technologies can provide new opportunities for tacit healthcare knowledge sharing amongst health-experts, and demonstrates this by presenting findings from a review of relevant literature and a survey conducted with Medical Doctors who have moderate to high interaction with collaborative tools and technologies in the healthcare industry. Semi-structure interviews were conducted with health-experts (Medical Doctors and clinicians) of Akademiska Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. Final thematic analysis unveiled six themes as potential contributors of collaborative tools and technologies in facilitating tacit healthcare knowledge sharing among clinicians. The newly developed themes are described and interpreted briefly; extensive literature review has been carried out to relate the emerged themes with the literatures and part of interview participant responses are supported as well. Finally this research suggests further empirical studies shall be conducted to acknowledge this study.

M.Phil. (Information Management) / Given the current knowledge economy, knowledge sharing has become a vital process in contributing to the success of any given organisation, whether academic or industry related. It is therefore essential for organisations to be aware of and to understand the various knowledge sharing techniques that exist. Consequently it is also relevant to acknowledge the potential contribution that knowledge sharing can make between peers, for educational purposes. An in-depth literature review was conducted which focused on knowledge sharing, and the various concepts associated with knowledge sharing. A sequential mixed-methods research methodology was followed in order to contribute to the lack of literature pertaining specifically to knowledge cafés. A qualitative Delphi study was conducted to document the guidelines, criteria and potential contribution of knowledge cafés as a knowledge sharing application. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the application of knowledge cafés as a technique for knowledge sharing. The quantitative component of the mixed-methods research was initiated by implementing three knowledge cafés using univariate quantitative data analysis on structured questionnaires to measure participant’s views towards knowledge cafés as a knowledge sharing technique. Essentially this study firstly gathered and documented information on knowledge cafés as a knowledge sharing technique and recommended that knowledge cafés can be used effectively as a technique for knowledge sharing, when appropriate criteria and guidelines are applied.

Thesis advisor: Lillie Richardson Albert / The purpose of this research is to identify the categories of South Korean elementary teachers' knowledge for teaching mathematics. Operating under the assumption that elementary teachers' knowledge for teaching affects students' learning, eleven South Korean elementary teachers volunteered to participate in this study. Emerging from the data collected and the subsequent analysis are five categories of South Korean elementary teachers' knowledge for teaching mathematics: Mathematics Curriculum Knowledge, Mathematics Learner Knowledge, Fundamental Mathematics Conceptual Knowledge, Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Mathematics Pedagogical Procedural Knowledge. The first three categories of knowledge play a significant role in mathematics instruction as an integrated form within Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge. A notable conclusion of this study is that Pedagogical Content Knowledge might not be the sum of the other categories of knowledge for teaching mathematics. These findings may be connected to results from relevant studies in terms of the significant role of teachers' knowledge in their mathematics instruction. This study contributes to the existing literature in that it provides empirical bases for understanding teachers' knowledge for teaching mathematics and reveals the relationship among categories of knowledge for teaching mathematics. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

The importance of knowledge in organizations has been steadily growing. Traditional economies focused on land, labour, and capital as their main production factors, and saw knowledge as external to the economic process. Over the last few decades, economists have started discussing the role of knowledge and technology in economic growth. The Resource-Based View of the firm explains the contribution of resources and capabilities of the firm to accomplish sustainable competitive advantage. As an extension of this view, the Knowledge-Based View of the firm suggests that knowledge is the basic economic resource, which explains an organization's sustainable competitive advantage. This view argues that in the knowledge-based economy, management of productivity of the knowledge-worker is the crucial challenge for growth and development. Organizational Capabilities are important for enhancing the competitive advantage and performance of the firms. However, the relationship between Organizational Capabilities and Knowledge-Worker Productivity have not previously been empirically examined. The current research, through Knowledge-Based View of the firm, examines the issue of effective knowledge integration from the perspective of Organizational Capabilities. This perspective suggests that effective knowledge integration improves the capabilities of an organization, which enhances the factors influencing the productivity of the knowledge-worker. Knowledge Integration Mechanisms were studied using four variables: Rules and Directives, Sequencing, Routines, and Group Problem-Solving. All these four variables were hypothesized to positively influence the three forms of Organizational Capabilities, namely Local Capability, Architectural Capability, and Process Capability. Then, the effect of these Capabilities on the Factors of Knowledge-Worker Productivity was examined. These factors were identified as Task Clarity, Autonomy, Innovation, Learning, Quality, and Value Addition. Through analysis of surveys collected from over three hundred knowledge professionals, this research empirically models and uncovers key aspects of these constructs. The results provide a basis for understanding the knowledge-based theory of the firm, which postulates that knowledge integration is the primary role of the firm. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. This method was chosen because it allows the analysis of all the relationships simultaneously. From the analysis of data collected, results of this research suggests that Process Capability has got maximum influence on the Factors of Knowledge-Worker Productivity; and Group Problem-Solving, as a Knowledge Integration Mechanisms, was found to be most significant in the development of Organizational Capabilities. These results conform to those reported in the literature, that is improved Factors of Knowledge-Worker Productivity is dependent on Organizational Capabilities, which are enhanced by effective Knowledge Integration Mechanisms. Overall, this thesis expands the Knowledge-Based View of the firm by integrating the above mentioned three constructs. This integrated view provides insights on the significance of knowledge integration and illustrates how firms develop a set of capabilities that can improve the Factors of Knowledge-Worker Productivity. The findings from this research can be used to develop sound strategies for effective leverage of Knowledge Management, ensuring organizational development.

Published Article / The reasons, objects, means and methods for a transfer of scientific results to society are analysed in the article. Among this, knowledge transfer - especially technology transfer - and on projects, especially joint projects with the aim of creating or transferring knowledge are concentrated upon. Success factors for bringing science to support socioeconomic development also receive attention.

The starting point of the thesis is an acceptance of the principles of a moderately naturalized epistemology which allow for the traditional questions of epistemology, especially that of empirical justification, to be addressed in a recognizable way. It is argued that naturalism construed in this way is not compatible with scepticism regarding empirical knowledge, at least as far as the justification condition goes. Five general consequences of a moderately naturalistic position are deduced. It is shown how these general conclusions lead to a modest foundationalism, that is, they imply the corrigibility of all empirical beliefs and the basic status of some. The sensory character of basic beliefs is argued for, as is the claim that basic beliefs are not about the character of experience but about physical facts in the subject's immediate environment. The way in which an empirical belief is brought about (its 'dependence relations') is then examined. The important conclusion, for a theory of justification, to be drawn from this examination, is that sensory beliefs depend on no other beliefs but themselves for their empirical justification. This points to the fact that, if they are justified for their subjects, they must be self-evident and prima facie justified. Before explicating the nature of prima facie justification, the general requirements for a satisfactory theory of epistemic justification are set out. Such a theory must account for the reasonableness of the agent in believing as she does; it must accommodate deontological aspects and explain how justified belief is distinguishable from unjustified belief; and it must provide some objective link between the justified belief and its likely truth. It is shown that the theory of prima facie justification of sensory beliefs which emerges from a naturalized epistemology, satisfies these requirements, and that a conception of prima facie justification which ignores naturalistic constraints cannot explain immediate justification. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)

Theorists have suggested that organizational culture is a strategic resource that has value in ensuring the continuing existence and success of organizations (Michalisin, Smith, & Kline, 1997; Barney, 1986, 1991; Hult, Ketchen, & Nichols, 2002; Gordon, 1985). This assertion is supported by various studies that have linked organizational culture to broad strategic outcomes such as an organizationâ s ability to manage knowledge (Davenport, Long, & Beers, 1998; Storck & Hill, 2000), innovation capability (Hauser, 1998), and strategic management of information technology (Kaarst-Brown & Robey, 1999; Reich & Benbasat, 2000; Schein, 1985). Based on this research, we suggest that there are characteristics of organizational cultures in information-based organizations that lead to increased collaboration, collegiality, and organizational effectiveness.

Competitive pressure and desire for success drive enterprises in general to involve in knowledge acquisition and dissemination activities that are becoming increasingly significant in the rapid changing and globalising economic world. In addition, with the increased mobility of information and the global labour force, knowledge and experience can be transferred instantaneously around the globe; thus, any advantage gained by one company can be eliminated by comparative improvements overnight. Therefore, the only comparative advantage a particular company will face will be its process of innovation – combining market and technology know-how with the resourceful talents of knowledgeable labour to solve a constant stream of competitive problems- and its ability to derive value from information. In this context, internal and external knowledge acquisition, intra-firm knowledge dissemination and management decisions taken in response to the significant information generated and subsequently filtered became the key factors of entrepreneurial success. This thesis explores how market orientation, learning orientation and entrepreneurial orientation systematically contribute to and are sources of competitive advantage in growth-oriented SMEs. The objective of this study was to investigate the likelihood of a growth-oriented enterprise established in Atlantic Canada to be involved in knowledge acquisition and dissemination activities and to succeed conditional on numerous internal and external factors. A ‘mixed-methods’ research approach was used in this study, comprised of: 1) a web-based questionnaire to study the knowledge management process and other aspects of entrepreneurial success and 2) ‘semi-structured’ interviews with a sample of the responding entrepreneurs. The findings suggest that knowledge management practices: external acquisition, intra-firm dissemination and responsiveness, do vary across the levels of entrepreneurial performance among the Atlantic Canadian SMEs investigated in the study. Having a market orientation and investing in human resources of the firm were found to be critical drivers of innovation leading to potential competitive advantage.

D.Phil. / The success of an organisation depends on the mental capability of a comparatively small number of highly proficient knowledge workers who innovate and clarify the business processes others must act on (Zemke, 2004). Many organisations utilise knowledge worker expertise to create a competitive advantage, but this expertise is not incorporated into the business processes and routine operations of the organisation. Organisational design does not create the conditions under which an organisation can optimise knowledge worker expertise (Grant, 1996). As a consequence, when the knowledge worker leaves the organisation, the knowledge created is lost and the competitive advantage is not sustainable. One of the foremost objectives of an organisation must be to optimise knowledge worker expertise to produce new products, services or ways of working for sustaining competitive advantage (Gold, Malhotra & Segards, 2001). Organisational design continues to be seen as the process of assembling and fine-tuning an organisation’s structure to achieve its goal. Much has been written about knowledge, knowledge management, the knowledge-based organisation and the knowledge worker. However, current organisational design methodologies do not place emphasis on the optimisation of knowledge worker expertise (Grant, 1996). For knowledge workers to contribute sufficiently to the production of new products, services or ways of working, consideration must be given to their motivation. Despite all our achievements in technology and product improvements, knowledge workers are not thriving in the organisations they work for because organisations are not clear about where knowledge workers fit and how their contribution is valued. Covey (2004) asserts that managers are still applying the Industrial Age control model to knowledge workers. For an organisation to succeed in the new economy, knowledge workers must be intrinsically motivated so that they can reach new heights of fulfilment (Covey, 2004).