In the competitive environment, organizational knowledge became one of the most valuable strategic resources for a company. Indeed, it is said to be the only resource that cannot be imitated, and thus, that provides a reliable competitive advantage. Hence, knowledge management has become a highly investigated field of study. In fact, knowledge sharing, one of the facets of knowledge management is considered as a helpful leverage within a company’s strategy. Knowledge sharing has been studied widely, it is found to be a powerful process to ensure that the developed knowledge within the company is kept in the company and made usable. Even though knowledge sharing has been investigated by researchers, when looking at the practices within organizations, it appears that those are not as efficient as they could be, due to organizational, technical, as well as individual hindrances that affect the establishment of such processes.   This thesis aims to increase the understanding of which factors influence individuals’ sharing behavior and which role a knowledge sharing policy takes. Therefore, interviews have been conducted with the employees within the communications department of the Alstom group. Alstom France is multinational company, which is providing transportation and energy producing solutions; this implies that the communication is a support function and needs to work efficient, which makes the matter of knowledge sharing even more important. It was found that the strategic importance of knowledge sharing is highly acknowledged within Alstom, since the company has introduced a knowledge transfer department, which has released the “Alstom Knowledge Management Transfer Handbook”, the company’s internal knowledge sharing policy. It provides a guideline for the managers within the departments. The perceived motivations and hindrances to share knowledge are mainly about the manager’s role, language and the team culture.

This thesis examines the political economy of public-private partnerships (PPPs), specifically how power has been shared among the partners involved in the co-management of forestry lands in Northwest Saskatchewan. It uncovers the political agendas of the groups involved, how decisions have been made and costs/benefits been shared, and considers the implications this model of co-management has for the future of forestry in this province. This study reveals a complex partnership in which power is not being shared equally. A private corporation, Mistik Management Ltd., possesses power over production, knowledge and credit. It purports to be working together with stakeholders in the co-management of forestry lands in Northwest Saskatchewan, but in truth Mistik is managing this resource with minimal input from forest users and residents in the region. The company does, however, appear sincere in its consultation process with stakeholders and is trying to improve the level of their engagement in day to day forestry operations. In addition, and despite this deficiency in stakeholder engagement, Mistik is practicing what is arguably the most environmentally sustainable forestry management in the province.

Background: There is strong level I evidence that in most patients, mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) is not required. Despite this, physician behaviour has been slow to change in favour of omitting preoperative MBP. Methods: A knowledge translation strategy including: guideline development, consensus, education by opinion leaders, audit and feedback and reminder cards, was used in this study. Results: Overall, 81.1% of patients in the “before” arm and 88.4% in the “after” arm received MBP in compliance with the guideline (p=0.038). Normal diet use was compliant with the guideline in 45.6% of the patients in the “before” arm and 55.8% in the “after” arm (p=0.080). The use of enemas was compliant with the guideline in 88.5% of “before” patients and 94.2% of “after” patients (p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that a tailored, multi-faceted knowledge translation strategy can be used to change surgeon behavior in this clinical scenario.

Saskatchewan-based pre-service and in-service teachers knowledge of ADHD was assessed and data was collected to accumulate psychometric evidence for the modified K-ADHD (Jerome, Gordon, & Hustler, 1994) scale. Using results from a questionnaire administered to pre-service (n = 100) and in-service (n = 66) teachers, the current study did find a significant difference on the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) scale between groups. Divergent and convergent validity evidence was found for the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) for both groups. However, reliability estimates were questionable between in-service (á = .66) and pre-service (á = .82) teachers, possibly due to asymmetric outlier contamination. The evidence found for the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) scale suggests problems with the psychometrics of the instrument. Future implications and research are discussed.

Background: There is strong level I evidence that in most patients, mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) is not required. Despite this, physician behaviour has been slow to change in favour of omitting preoperative MBP. Methods: A knowledge translation strategy including: guideline development, consensus, education by opinion leaders, audit and feedback and reminder cards, was used in this study. Results: Overall, 81.1% of patients in the “before” arm and 88.4% in the “after” arm received MBP in compliance with the guideline (p=0.038). Normal diet use was compliant with the guideline in 45.6% of the patients in the “before” arm and 55.8% in the “after” arm (p=0.080). The use of enemas was compliant with the guideline in 88.5% of “before” patients and 94.2% of “after” patients (p<0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study reveal that a tailored, multi-faceted knowledge translation strategy can be used to change surgeon behavior in this clinical scenario.

<p>Research suggests that parents&rsquo / feeding practices play a critical role in the development of children&rsquo / s tastes, eating habits, nutrition and eventual weight status. Thus if parental feeding practices play such a critical role, the question arises as to whether there is a difference in parental feeding practices that determine different developments in children&rsquo / s nutritional habits. Furthermore, feeding practices are possibly based on the nutritional knowledge of parents. The aim of this study was to assess the Body Mass Index (BMI), nutritional knowledge and behaviour of primary care-givers. This study followed the quantitative research paradigm. A sample of 147 staff members, who were primary care- givers of children at a University in the Western Cape was self-selected to participate in the study. Only primary care-givers of children were invited to participate. The primary care-givers were asked to complete two online questionnaires, the Comprehensive Child Feeding Questionnaire (CFPQ) developed by Musher-E-Eisenman and Holub (2007), and the General Nutritional Knowledge Questionnaire (GNKQ) for adults. Data analysis was done by means of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS17). Results indicated that the majority of participants were overweight (46% of the participants). Primary care-givers across all body mass index groups did not lack nutritional knowledge but variations in behaviour were found with regard to feeding practices. However similarities were found in the BMI categories in the areas of teaching about nutrition, pressure to eat at meal times<br /> and encouraging balance and variety.</p>

Knowledge Management (KM) är ett välkänt område inom företagsekonomin. KM används för att hantera kunskap inom företag exempelvis för att skapa, hantera, lagra och dela information. I den här studien har vi gått närmare in på kunskapsdelning hos säljare. Vi skriver, i denna studie, på uppdrag av Företag A, som är verksamma inom transportbranschen i Sverige. I uppdraget ingår det att ta reda på hur Företag A kan ta del av säljarnas kunskap och information om bland annat kunder och konkurrenter. Det teoretiska syftet med uppsatsen är att förstå vilka möjligheter och hinder som påverkar säljare att dela med sig av kunskap till andra i en organisation. För att kunna svara på syftet har vi använt oss av teorier som behandlar kunskapsdelning, Knowledge Transfer, Knowledge Sharing och exempelvis Nonaka &amp; Takeuchis (1995) klassiska SECI modell samt Communities of Practice. För att se vilka hinder som påverkar kunskapsdelning har vi gått in på Rieges (2005) tre indelningar av hinder som är individuella, organisationella och tekniska hinder. Vi har gjort en kvalitativ studie och genomfört semi-strukturerade intervjuer med nio personer från företagets säljavdelning. Resultatet visar på att det finns många som delar kunskap med andra personer inom sin avdelning men även till andra personer och avdelningar internt på företaget. Vi ser bland annat att säljarna har möjlighet att snabbt se förändringar som kan ske, eftersom de har en nära dialog med sig kund. Det gör att om säljarna delar med sig av den informationen till företaget kan de utnyttja det till att bland annat ändra sina erbjudanden på att de passar kunden bättre. Vi har även kommit fram till att de IT-system som finns och används på företaget har möjlighet att förbättras, för att det upplevs av studiens respondenter att det saknas enkla sökfunktioner samt att det finns begränsade åtkomster i företagens befintliga system. I slutet på den här studien tar vi upp fler slutsatser som vi funnit samt ger praktiska rekommendationer till företaget som de kan använda för att skapa bättre förutsättningar för att dela kunskap och information internt.

Befintlig forskning på området har dragit slutsatsen att Knowledge Sharing är av stor vikt för ett företags framtida överlevnad och att små och medelstora företag i många fall inte tagit de åtgärder som behövs för att främja en ökad kunskapsdelning mellan medarbetarna. Studien belyste därför Knowledge Sharing inom små och medelstora, projektbaserade företag. Syftet med studien var att öka förståelsen och bidra med kunskap gällande hur medarbetarna inom små och medelstora företag arbetar med och kan stimulera Knowledge Sharing. Forskningsansatsen var en kvalitativ design med semistrukturerade intervjuer där utgångspunkten var att studera Knowledge Sharing utifrån medarbetarnas inställningar och erfarenheter. Studien visade att den praktiska delningen av kunskap inom små och medelstora företag skedde genom informella metoder såsom möten och personlig kommunikation. Den explicita kunskapen föredrogs att delas genom personifiering och dialog. Det ansågs generera djupare kunskap att dela genom personifiering än genom kodifiering. Individer vill dela expertis naturligt, och den bästa organisatoriska policyn kan vara att skapa tillfällen för människor att diskutera och utbyta kunskaper. Bonussystem för att motivera de anställda till att dela kunskaper i högre utsträckning fanns implementerade inom vissa utav de undersökta företagen. Medarbetarna drevs dock av andra motiv för att dela kunskap än rent monetära incitament. Kunskapsdelningsbeteendet motiveras av delarens önskan att hjälpa andra och bidra till organisationen. Andra starka motiv till Knowledge Sharing var att dela kunskap för att i sin tur få kunskaper returnerade och att det var roligt. / Research has concluded that Knowledge Sharing is essential for a company's future survival and that small and medium-sized enterprises have not taken the necessary steps to promote greater Knowledge Sharing between employees. Therefore the study highlighted Knowledge Sharing in small and medium-sized, project-based businesses. The aim of the study was to increase the understanding and contribute knowledge regarding how employees in small and medium-sized businesses are working with and can stimulate Knowledge Sharing. The research approach was a qualitative design with semi-structured interviews where the starting-point was to study employees' preferences and experiences of Knowledge Sharing. The study showed that the practical sharing of knowledge within small and medium enterprises was through informal methods such as meetings and personal communications. The explicit knowledge was presented to them by the personalization and dialogue, rather than by monologue. It was considered to generate deeper knowledge by impersonation than through codification. Individuals want to share expertise naturally, and the best organizational policies may be to create opportunities for people to talk and share knowledge through dialogues. Bonus systems were implemented to motivate employees to share knowledge in some of the surveyed companies. Furthermore, employees were motivated to share knowledge by other motivations than purely monetary incentives. Knowledge Sharing behavior was motivated by the desire to help others and contribute to the organization. Other strong motives to Knowledge Sharing was to share knowledge in order to, in turn, get knowledge returned and that it was fun.

This thesis examines the political economy of public-private partnerships (PPPs), specifically how power has been shared among the partners involved in the co-management of forestry lands in Northwest Saskatchewan. It uncovers the political agendas of the groups involved, how decisions have been made and costs/benefits been shared, and considers the implications this model of co-management has for the future of forestry in this province. This study reveals a complex partnership in which power is not being shared equally. A private corporation, Mistik Management Ltd., possesses power over production, knowledge and credit. It purports to be working together with stakeholders in the co-management of forestry lands in Northwest Saskatchewan, but in truth Mistik is managing this resource with minimal input from forest users and residents in the region. The company does, however, appear sincere in its consultation process with stakeholders and is trying to improve the level of their engagement in day to day forestry operations. In addition, and despite this deficiency in stakeholder engagement, Mistik is practicing what is arguably the most environmentally sustainable forestry management in the province.

Saskatchewan-based pre-service and in-service teachers knowledge of ADHD was assessed and data was collected to accumulate psychometric evidence for the modified K-ADHD (Jerome, Gordon, & Hustler, 1994) scale. Using results from a questionnaire administered to pre-service (n = 100) and in-service (n = 66) teachers, the current study did find a significant difference on the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) scale between groups. Divergent and convergent validity evidence was found for the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) for both groups. However, reliability estimates were questionable between in-service (á = .66) and pre-service (á = .82) teachers, possibly due to asymmetric outlier contamination. The evidence found for the K-ADHD (Jerome et al., 1994) scale suggests problems with the psychometrics of the instrument. Future implications and research are discussed.