The trend toward open concept office floor plans reflects evolving management styles in modern organizations. Organizations typically implement architecturally open workspace designs to seed cultural change. As the popularity of open concept offices grows, however, research suggests that they are negatively impacting collaboration and productivity. This thesis examines how organizational leadership and employees perceive the transition to an open concept workspace, incorporating employees’ aesthetic experience to understand how the space is ‘physically known’. The study takes place within a conceptual framework of aesthetic knowledge as experiential, symbolic and personal. Using a qualitative, practice-based approach that incorporates participant-led photo-ethnography, semi-structured interviews were conducted with leadership and employees. Although the results are not generalizable, they suggest that the open concept workspace both positively and negatively impacts organizational collaboration but has primarily negative effects on staff productivity, and that leadership can improve open workspace outcomes by taking employees’ embodied experiences into account in the design and implementation of such spaces. The results add to our understanding of the way in which organizational strategy and aesthetic knowledge create and sustain the way of working within an open concept office space.

This study investigates how knowledge is transferred in the Nigerian public service, the features of its bureaucratic culture, as well as, the effects that this culture has on knowledge transfer. The motivation to undertake this study is borne out of the identified gap in the literature, which bothers on the dearth of studies in the area of knowledge transfer, as well as, the specific features inherent in that of the Nigerian public service bureaucratic culture. Qualitative and quantitative research methods (i.e. semi-structured interviews and survey) are combined in gathering data for this study. Both the interviews and survey sample frames undertaken with key players of the public service covering the three cadres, (senior, and junior and management/directorate staff), were representative of all the aspects of the public service covered. Seven ministries out of a total of seventeen in the Bayelsa state public service forms the sample frame used for this research The overall empirical results indicate that there is knowledge transfer in the Nigerian public service in view of the available mechanisms used for the transfer of knowledge. In addition, the Nigerian bureaucratic culture has more negative effects than positive on knowledge transfer. The application of Hofstede’s theory reveals a high level of inequality, masculinity and autocracy as features of the Nigerian public service bureaucratic culture. The study also reveals that there is the use of very high sounding military fashion language in the public service, due to the long period of military rule. This research finds that there is reasonable awareness amongst public servants about knowledge and its sources that is needed to run the public service, but that access to knowledge, particularly tacit knowledge by authorised staff is difficult. Public servants agree that certain kind of knowledge transfer activities persist, although the terminology is relatively new to Nigeria. They agree that under the current democratic environment in which the public service operates, government should make concerted efforts to establish a knowledge transfer culture so as to make knowledge readily available. It recommends the entrenchment of a leaning, training and collaborative culture, as well as, the de-emphasising of hierarchy and creation of a more flexible public service. The contribution of this study to knowledge is in the area of putting in place a framework for the effective implementation of knowledge management practice (transfer) in the Nigerian public service.

This thesis is a study of knowledge practices in contemporary eastern Tibetan villages, where indigenous knowledge, the modern state's rationality and modern science intermingled. The place is rich in the interplay of forms of knowledge. Based on ethnographic observation and reading in hydropower archives, I focus on local knowledge controversies, where there were clashes between the claims of villagers on the one hand, and local officials and visiting scientists on the other. Through the collection of controversies, I observed how different knowledge claims came into contact or conflict with each other, how these conflicts were resolved either in acquiescence or in coordination, and how a conclusion about knowledge was reached in each particular case. In challenging some common assumptions about knowledge production, the thesis makes a contribution to knowledge studies. When researching this subject, scholars have generally studied either the suppression of folk / native knowledge by modern science, or the pure local forms of knowledge as a means of resistance against scientificization. The thesis argues that in contrast to this standard presumption, an alternative form of knowledge production exists. Suppression or resistance are not the only options, hybridization can also be a procedure to produce knowledge, where the outcome is not necessarily purely scientific or purely folk. The case studies I examine do not show either a ruthless plunge into the universe of modern science or an eradication of the modern side and a return to entirely local knowledge. Although modern meteorology prevailed in the face of Tibetans' claims for compensation for destruction of crops by a storm, villagers on the wind-impacted farmlands deconstructed and re-legitimized the science of weather, they did not merely face a simple choice between science and the folk. In another case, villagers clashed with one another on how to delimit the mountain boundary in legal documents, and the state officials took a passive role in these controversies: the geographical entity was not born through suppression, but through villagers' free intellectual movement on the knowledge landscape, from state forestry archives, to local foraging histories, to personal biographies. A controversy over activities related to hydropower manifests the absence of suppression most clearly. Villagers clashed with scientists over seismic damage to local houses, with each side seeking to prove that the damage was or was not caused by a hydropower explosion experiment. The resulting memorandum of understanding that resolved the controversy does not certify scientific explanation nor the folk claim, but is rather a hybridization of incompatible elements from both sides. In this way, the outcome of knowledge-formation through controversies in these Tibetan villages did not fit straightforwardly with the 'logics' of either side. Nevertheless, they were made intelligible and valid as a knowledge in place, in time, and as produced by local groups of people. Simple suppression does not explain local knowledge formation, knowledge derives from complex interplays between scientific, indigenous and administrative practices and narratives.

I argue that to know that a proposition is true one must have justification for being certain that the proposition is true. That is, one must have infallible epistemic justification for believing the proposition. It is widely accepted among epistemologists that we rarely, if ever, have such strong justification for our beliefs. It follows that there is precious little that we know. That conclusion is unacceptable to many philosophers. I argue that the positions that lead to the skeptical conclusion are well-motivated and that the skeptical conclusion is implicitly accepted by ordinary speakers. My dissertation has three main components: a metaphilosophical position, an epistemological position, and an error theory. First, the metaphilosophical position. One very important part of philosophy is the analysis of our ordinary concepts. Analysis of our concepts begins with reflecting on what we are inclined to say about various actual and possible cases when considered under specific descriptions. This traditional method has recently come under attack, due in part to the rise of semantic externalism. I agree with externalists that if ‘meaning is reference’ then there is little reason to think reflecting on our concepts from the armchair will provide insight to the nature of the concepts we investigate. I defend a version of semantic internalism which grounds meaning in factors with which subjects are directly acquainted. That view supports the traditional methodology. Furthermore, as the goal of philosophical analysis is to accurately describe concepts of philosophical interest, the only kind of objection that could be decisive against a proposed analysis is that it does not correctly describe our concept. That opens the door to a skeptical analysis of knowledge. Second, the epistemological position. I argue that the unacceptability of sentences of the form “S knows that p but it is possible for S that not-p” is best explained by the hypothesis that our concept of knowledge requires having justification for being certain that what one believes is true. I offer as a criterion of justified certainty the idea that when one knows a proposition is true, one is in a position to decisively answer questions about one’s knowledge of that proposition. I survey a number of competing theories of knowledge and show that they allow for the possibility of knowledge when one fails my criterion of decisive answerability. Those views fail my criterion because according to those views there is nothing the subject is aware of that guarantees for the subject that the allegedly known proposition is true. On that basis, I contend that knowledge is direct awareness of the factors that constitute the truth of the proposition one believes. Third, the error theory. Of course, we rarely have direct awareness of the factors that constitute the truth of the propositions we believe. So, our knowledge attributions are generally false. Yet, they are overwhelmingly natural to make. I argue that competent speakers are often quick to recognize knowledge attributions as a kind of ‘loose talk’ akin to the way we loosely ascribe geometric properties to ordinary objects. We regularly call objects ‘square’ that are not even close to being square, and we are quick to recognize this when challenged. I argue that we do this because we are so accustomed to communicating using strict language to make false claims that we often do not attend to the literal falsity of what we are saying. While we accept very demanding standards for knowledge, the phenomenon of recognizing that our knowledge claims are regularly false is as pervasive as our use of loose speech.

Doctor of Philosophy / Tacit knowledge represents a challenge to knowledge elicitation due to the assumption that this type of knowledge cannot be articulated. We argue that Polanyi's (1966:4) widely cited notion that “we know more than we can tell” represents a weak model of language that does not acknowledge the grammatical patterns in spoken discourse that we, as speakers, apply tacitly. We investigate the hypothesis that individuals articulate what they know through grammatical patterns, referred to as under-representation, without direct awareness. This thesis develops and pilots a grammar-targeted interview method aimed at unpacking specific grammatical features that occur in spoken discourse. The model of language from which these features are derived is Systemic Functional Linguistics. We report findings from three empirical studies of tacit knowledge in corporate organisations where we used the grammar-targeted interview technique to elicit tacit knowledge in the areas of knowledge management, requirements analysis and performance reviews. We compare this interview method with a content-targeted approach. The results show that the grammar-targeted technique produces less under-represented discourse thus allowing tacit knowledge held by the interviewees to be made visible. Based on the linguistic analyses undertaken in these field studies we propose that Polanyi’s expression “we know more than we tell” be reformulated to “we tell more than we realise we know”.

<p><p>Title: Network in the knowledge transfer process</p><p>Authors: Ying-Sze Tang (Virginia), Pattamawan Chaikiturajai (Koy)</p><p>Supervisor: Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin</p><p>Course: Dissertation 15 ECTS, spring 2010</p><p>Seminar date: June 1, 2010</p><p>Key words: Knowledge transfer, network, knowledge transfer by network</p><p>Purpose: To examine the roles of network in the knowledge transfer process</p><p>Method: The aim is to examine the roles of network in the knowledge transfer process by using theories as a foundation and then relating literatures with empirical data. An abductive approach and qualitative case study approach would be conducted.</p><p>Theory: The theoretical framework of reference consists of knowledge transfer, network and knowledge transfer by network. The conceptual models which are developed by the authors will be described at the end of chapter 3.Empirical method: Secondary data such as companies‘ information from website and annual report are used for data collection. Since the comparison could be made, this study is to perform interviews with two international companies which are HMS Industrial Networks AB and Synovate Limited. The interviewees are the persons who participated in the communication with overseas people.Analysis: The analysis part consists of two sections. The first section is a within-case analysis of HMS Industrial Networks AB and Synovate Limited while the second section is a cross-case analysis of both companies.</p><p>Conclusion: The major finding after doing this thesis is that all main networks including home country network, host country network and subsidiaries network are crucial factors in knowledge transfer process. Home country network acts as an ‗Advisor‘ to get assistance and guidance for gaining knowledge. Host country network acts as a ‗Punching Tool‘ which helps company to enter into an unfamiliar and difficult foreign market due to language and culture <em>barrier. Subsidiaries network acts as a ‗Knowledge Booster‘ which help each other about transferring knowledge between host countries to enhance the whole process. It is because business operations are conducted in subsidiaries locally but not in the headquarters.</em></p></p>

Title: Network in the knowledge transfer process Authors: Ying-Sze Tang (Virginia), Pattamawan Chaikiturajai (Koy) Supervisor: Sven-Olof Yrjö Collin Course: Dissertation 15 ECTS, spring 2010 Seminar date: June 1, 2010 Key words: Knowledge transfer, network, knowledge transfer by network Purpose: To examine the roles of network in the knowledge transfer process Method: The aim is to examine the roles of network in the knowledge transfer process by using theories as a foundation and then relating literatures with empirical data. An abductive approach and qualitative case study approach would be conducted. Theory: The theoretical framework of reference consists of knowledge transfer, network and knowledge transfer by network. The conceptual models which are developed by the authors will be described at the end of chapter 3.Empirical method: Secondary data such as companies‘ information from website and annual report are used for data collection. Since the comparison could be made, this study is to perform interviews with two international companies which are HMS Industrial Networks AB and Synovate Limited. The interviewees are the persons who participated in the communication with overseas people.Analysis: The analysis part consists of two sections. The first section is a within-case analysis of HMS Industrial Networks AB and Synovate Limited while the second section is a cross-case analysis of both companies. Conclusion: The major finding after doing this thesis is that all main networks including home country network, host country network and subsidiaries network are crucial factors in knowledge transfer process. Home country network acts as an ‗Advisor‘ to get assistance and guidance for gaining knowledge. Host country network acts as a ‗Punching Tool‘ which helps company to enter into an unfamiliar and difficult foreign market due to language and culture barrier. Subsidiaries network acts as a ‗Knowledge Booster‘ which help each other about transferring knowledge between host countries to enhance the whole process. It is because business operations are conducted in subsidiaries locally but not in the headquarters.

I organisationer idag börjar det bli mer och mer centralt att fokusera på medarbetarnas innovationsmöjligheter och kunskap. Organisationer bör numera fokusera mer på den tysta kunskapen och göra denna explicit för att utnyttja den fulla potentialen till innovation. I dagens organisationer krävs det även att medarbetarna vågar arbeta över gränserna och att ledningen tydliggör att allas input inom organisationen värderas likvärdigt. Denna kvalitativa studie bygger på intervjuer med fem personer, som alla har ledningspositioner inom Organisationen AB. Utgångspunkt i studien att undersöka, ur ledningsperspektiv, ledningens roll i att stimulera till innovation och lärandeprocesser för lagring och hämtning av kunskap inom organisationen. Det insamlade materialet har tolkats samt analyserats och återfinns under empiri och analys avsnittet. I slutet av studien ges förslag till förbättringar.

During the last decade offshore sourcing has emerged as a rapidly growing trend, making offshore-based consultants rule rather than exception in IT consulting projects. This offshore context introduces challenges in knowledge management; something of particular interest in IT consulting, being a knowledge intensive industry where a firm’s ability to leverage knowledge determines its ability to gain competitive advantage. This study adds to the understanding of how these challenges to knowledge management in an offshore context are managed, as well as how project-specific knowledge is managed in such a context. Eight semi-structured interviews have been conducted in two different consulting projects at Accenture. The results suggest that even though Accenture in general uses a distinct codifying strategy, the challenges introduced to knowledge management in an offshore context were mainly handled through personalisation strategy.

Many organizations are planning and developing information systems specifically to facilitate and manage knowledge activities. Such systems are referred to as Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs). How to successfully implement KMS is an important issue that has attracted the interest of many pundits. However, KMSs are just beginning to appear in organizations. There is a general scarcity of models and frameworks available for evaluating and guiding KMS success. This study proposes a model for measuring KMS success. An empirical study was conducted to collect data. This data was empirically used to test the proposed research model. This model is derived through an analysis of current practice and outcomes of knowledge management and an intensive review of information system success literature. Five variables, system quality, knowledge/ information quality, valuation of KMS benefits, user satisfaction, and system use, are proposed as dependent variables to evaluate KMS success and their interrelationships are defined and discussed.