Il progetto di ricerca muove dall’interesse per l’emergere di nuove epistemologie della formazione professionale che riconoscono la pratica condivisa come contesto epistemologico di produzione e sviluppo di competenze. Recenti ricerche collegano le possibilità di crescita professionale del singolo allo sviluppo complessivo delle organizzazioni, interpretate come sistemi di comunità che apprendono. Il tema di fondo su cui si confronta la ricerca attiene alla trasformazione delle conoscenze dell’insegnante, all’interno dei vincoli e delle possibilità connesse all’attuale fase di transizione, in favore dell’apprendimento organizzativo. Più in dettaglio, la ricerca indaga il ruolo che assumono le conoscenze tacite nella trasformazione di conoscenza dal livello individuale a quello collettivo. / The research project originates from the interest in emerging new epistemologies of professional formation which identify shared practice as the epistemological context of competence creation and development. Recent research relates the opportunities of individual professional growth to the overall development of the organizations, considered as learning community systems. Given the limits and possibilities connected to the present moment of transition, the main point the research deals with is the transformation of the teacher's knowledge in favour of organizational learning. To be more precise, the research investigates the role of tacit knowledge in the transformation of knowledge from individual to collective level.

Med hjälp av denna vetenskapliga essä undersöker jag hur man kan uppmärksamma och värna leken och glädjen i musicerandet med förskolebarn. Detta belyser jag inte enbart ur barnens perspektiv utan även ur mitt eget och mina kollegors. Med hjälp av berättelser från min vardag på förskolan och utifrån min praktiska kunskap, ger jag en bild av hur detta kan te sig. Dessa berättelser är ett fundament för mina vidare reflektioner. Vad lek och leklust är skärskådar jag genom att bena upp begreppen i mindre beståndsdelar. Jag reflekterar bland annat över förberedelser, stämning, material, att bedöma gränser, stöttning av enskilda barn, att hålla sig öppen, arbetslaget, risken med longörer och nödvändigheten av humor. Den röst som jag huvudsakligen låter komma till tals är Johan Huizingas. Hans idéer om lekens väsen har hjälpt mig att formulera mina egna tankar. Andra får bistå mig för att ytterligare förtydliga, fördjupa och kontrastera mina resonemang. / Using this scientific essay, I examine how to recognize and protect the play and the joy of music-making with preschoolers. I highlight this not only from the children's, but also from my own and my colleagues, perspective. With the help of stories from my everyday life at preschool and based on my practical knowledge, I provide a picture of how this may emerge. These stories are the foundation for my further reflections. I scrutinize what play and playfulness are and carefully analyze the phenomenon into smaller parts. I reflect about, among other things, the preparation, atmosphere, materials, assessing rules, the support of individual children, ability to stay open, teamwork, the risk of verbosity and the necessity of humor. The voice that primarily has it's say belongs to Johan Huizinga. His ideas regarding the essence of play has helped me formulate my own thoughts. Others has also helped me to clarify, deepen, and contrast my own reasoning in this essay.

Ce rapport de recherche porte sur une étude s’intéressant au transfert des connaissances tacites chez les gestionnaires, c’est-à-dire le partage de ces connaissances et leur utilisation informelle, durant une situation de coordination dans un service municipal. La thèse est articulée autour des questions suivantes : Quelles sont les situations de coordination vécues par les gestionnaires municipaux? Quelles sont les sources de connaissances tacites partagées et utilisées? Quelles sont les relations de connaissances mobilisées de façon informelle lors du transfert des connaissances tacites? Quels sont les facteurs encourageant ou inhibant le transfert informel des connaissances tacites? À partir d’un modèle basé sur une approche situationnelle (Taylor, 1989 et 1991), nous avons revu la documentation touchant nos questions de recherche. Nous avons défini notamment la récursivité des connaissances et le réseau de connaissances, de même que présenté le modèle de la conversion des connaissances (Nonaka, 1994) et celui de l’actualisation de soi (St-Arnaud, 1996). Nous avons questionné 22 répondants à l’aide d’instruments de mesure qui combinent les techniques de l’incident critique, de l’entrevue cognitive et réflexive, le questionnement sur les réseaux organisationnels et l’observation participante. Tels des filets, ces instruments ont permis de traquer et d’obtenir des données d’une grande richesse sur les connaissances tacites et les comportements informels durant le transfert de connaissances en situation de coordination. Ces données ont été analysées selon une approche méthodologique essentiellement qualitative combinant l’analyse de contenu, la schématisation heuristique et l’analyse des réseaux sociaux. Nos résultats montrent que la complexité d’une situation de coordination conditionne le choix des mécanismes de coordination. De plus, les sources de connaissances sont, du point de vue individuel, le gestionnaire et ses artefacts, de même que son réseau personnel avec ses propres artefacts. Du point de vue collectif, ces sources sont réifiées dans le réseau de connaissances. Les connaissances clés d’une situation de coordination sont celles sur le réseau organisationnel, le contexte, les expériences en gestion et en situation complexe de coordination, la capacité de communiquer, de négocier, d’innover et celle d’attirer l’attention. Individuellement, les gestionnaires privilégient l’actualisation de soi, l’autoformation et la formation contextualisée et, collectivement, la coprésence dans l’action, le réseautage et l’accompagnement. Cette étude fournit un modèle valide du transfert contextualisé des connaissances qui est un cas de coordination complexe d’activités en gestion des connaissances. Ce transfert est concomitant à d’autres situations de coordination. La nature tacite des connaissances prévaut, de même que le mode informel, les médias personnels et les mécanismes d’ajustement mutuel. Les connaissances tacites sont principalement transférées au début des processus de gestion de projet et continuellement durant la rétroaction et le suivi des résultats. Quant aux connaissances explicites, les gestionnaires les utilisent principalement comme un symbole à la fin des processus de gestion de projet. Parmi les personnes et les groupes de personnes d’une situation de transfert contextualisé des connaissances, 10 % jouent des rôles clés, soit ceux d’experts et d’intermédiaires de personnes et d’artefacts. Les personnes en périphérie possèdent un potentiel de structuration, c’est-à-dire de connexité, pour assurer la continuité du réseau de connaissances organisationnel. Notre étude a élargi le modèle général de la complexité d’une situation (Bystrom, 1999; Choo, 2006; Taylor, 1986 et 1991), la théorie de la coordination (Malone et Crowston, 1994), le modèle de la conversion des connaissances (Nonaka, 1994), celui de l’actualisation de soi (St-Arnaud, 1996) et la théorie des réseaux de connaissances (Monge et Contractor, 2003). Notre modèle réaffirme la concomitance de ces modèles généraux selon une approche constructiviste (Giddens, 1987) où la dualité du structurel et la compétence des acteurs sont confirmées et enrichies. / This research report is about a study on tacit knowledge transfer in the organization. This study focuses on sharing tacit knowledge and its informal utilization in a coordination situation. This thesis is articulated around those following questions : In which kind of coordination situations are involved municipal managers? Which knowledge sources are shared and used? Which knowledge relations are mobilised in an informal way during tacit knowledge transfer? Which factors encourage it? From an situational approach model, we revised litterature on those questions. We defined knowledge recursivity, knowledge network and knowledge conversion model (Nonaka, 1994) and a model on self actualization (St-Arnaud, 1996). We interviewed 22 respondants with research tools combining critical incident technique, cognitive and reflexive interview, organizational network questionning and participating observation. Like fishing nets , those tools permitted to track and obtain rich data on tacit knowledge and informal behavior during tacit knowledge transfer involving coordination situation. The data were analysed combining qualitative content analysis, mind mapping and social network analysis. Our research results show that coordination situation complexity conditions the choice of coordination mechanism. On an individual basis, knowledge sources are the manager and its artefacts and his personal network including also its artefacts. Collective knowledge sources are reificated in a knowledge network. Key knowledge and skills as far as a coordination situation is concerned are organizational network, context, management and complex coordination situation experience, communication capacity, negociation, innovation and attention capacities. Individually, managers prefer self actualization, self- learning, contextualized learning and, collectively, managers rely more on copresence in action, social networking and escorting. This study has, as an outcome, a valid model on contextualized knowledge transfer which is a complex knowledge management coordination case. This transfer is concomitant with other coordination situations. Tacit knowledge prevails as it is the case with the informal mode, personal medias and mutual adjustment mecanisms. Tacit knowledge is mainly transfered at the very beginning of a project management process and also constantly, during retroaction and result following. Explicit knowledge is used by managers mainly like a symbol at the end of a project management process. Amongst individuals and groups involved in a coordination situation no more than 10 % play key roles : experts, artefact and persons brokers. Peripheral individuals have structuration potential, in other words connexity, for the continuity of organizational knowledge network. Our study enlarged the general situation complexity model (Bystrom, 1999; Choo, 2006; Taylor, 1986 et 1991), the theory of coordination (Malone et Crowston, 1994), the knowledge conversion model (Nonaka, 1994), self actualization model (St-Arnaud, 1996) and, the knowledge network theory (Monge et Contractor, 2003). Our model confirms concomitance of those general models according to the constructivist approach (Giddens, 1987) where structural duality and actors competence are confirmed and enriched. / En este reporte de investigación se expone un estudio sobre la transferencia de conocimientos tácitos en los gestores, es decir sobre el cómo se comparten estos conocimientos y su utilización informal durante una situación de coordinación en un servicio municipal. La tesis está articulada en torno a las siguientes preguntas: ¿Cuáles son las situaciones de coordinación que viven los gestores municipales? ¿Cuáles son las fuentes de conocimientos tácitos que comparten y utilizan? ¿Cuáles son las relaciones de conocimientos que se movilizan de manera informal durante la transferencia de conocimientos tácitos? ¿Cuáles son los factores que promueven o inhiben la transferencia informal de conocimientos tácitos? Se revisó la documentación relativa a nuestro tema de investigación a partir de un modelo con enfoque situacional (Taylor, 1989 et 1991). Hemos definido señaladamente la recursividad de los conocimientos y de la red de conocimientos. Asimismo hemos presentado el modelo de la conversión de conocimientos (Nonaka, 1994) y el de la actualización de sí (St-Arnaud, 1996). Inquirimos a 22 informantes, mediante instrumentos de medición que combinan las técnicas del incidente crítico, la entrevista cognitiva y reflexiva, la averiguación sobre las redes organizacionales y la observación participante. Como si fueran tramas, estos instrumentos han permitido rastrear y obtener datos de gran riqueza sobre los conocimientos tácitos y los comportamientos informales durante la transferencia de conocimientos en situaciones de coordinación. Estos datos se analizaron adoptando un enfoque metodológico esencialmente cualitativo combinando el análisis de contenidos, la esquematización heurística y el análisis de redes sociales. Nuestros resultados muestran que la complejidad de una situación de coordinación condiciona la elección de los mecanismos de coordinación. Además, las fuentes de conocimientos son, desde el punto de vista individual, el gestor y sus artefactos, así como su red personal con sus propios artefactos. Desde el punto de vista colectivo, estas fuentes se reifican en la red de conocimientos. Los conocimientos claves de una situación de coordinación son aquellos relativos a la red organizacional, el contexto, las experiencias en gestión, y en situación compleja de coordinación, la capacidad de comunicar, de negociar, de innovar, y la de llamar la atención. Individualmente, los gestores privilegian la actualización de sí, la autoformación y la formación contextualizada y, colectivamente, la co-presencia en la acción, la puesta en red y el acompañamiento. Este estudio aporta un modelo válido de la transferencia contextualizada de conocimientos que constituye un caso de coordinación compleja de actividades en gestión de conocimientos. Esta transferencia es concomitante con otras situaciones de coordinación. La naturaleza tácita de los conocimientos prevalece, así como el modo informal, los medios personales y los mecanismos de ajuste mutuo. Los conocimientos tácitos se transfieren principalmente al inicio de los procesos de gestión de proyectos y se siguen transferiendo durante la retroacción y el seguimiento de los resultados. En cuanto a los conocimientos explícitos, los gestores los utilizan principalmente como un símbolo al final de los procesos de gestión de proyecto. Entre las personas y los grupos de personas de una situación de transferencia contextualizada de conocimientos 10% tienen papeles claves, es decir los de expertos e intermediarios de personas y de artefactos. Las personas en periferia poseen un potencial de estructuración, es decir, de conexidad, para asegurar la continuidad de la red de conocimientos organizacionales. Nuestro estudio amplió el modelo general de la complejidad de una situación (Bystrom, 1999; Choo, 2006; Taylor, 1986 et 1991), la teoría de la coordinación (Malone et Crowston, 1994), el modelo de la conversión de conocimientos (Nonaka, 1994), el de la actualización sí (St-Arnaud, 1996) y la teoría de redes de conocimientos (Monge et Contractor, 2003). Nuestro modelo reafirma la concomitancia de estos modelos generales según un enfoque constructivista (Giddens, 1987) en el cual la dualidad estructural y la competencia de los actores se confirman y se enriquecen.

En réadaptation en déficience physique, les intervenantes psychosociales utilisent plusieurs types de savoirs, mais la relation entre ceux-ci est peu étudiée. Ce projet regarde quelle place ces intervenantes accordent à différents types de savoirs dans leurs pratiques. Nous distinguons savoirs théoriques, produits scientifiquement, savoirs pratiques, produits par l’action et l’expérience, et savoirs existentiels, englobant croyances et valeurs. Les données recueillies qualitativement par huit entrevues semi-dirigées auprès d’intervenantes psychosociales en réadaptation ont été codifiées et analysées horizontalement et verticalement. Ceci démontre que tous les savoirs ont une place dans l’intervention et qu’ils devraient être égaux et complémentaires. Ils remplissent des fonctions influençant divers aspects de l’intervention ou s’adressant à différents acteurs, à différents moments de l’intervention. Ce projet a permis de construire des savoirs pratiques et des savoirs théoriques qui ont des retombées sur la pratique et la recherche, mais laissent plusieurs points en suspens à reprendre ultérieurement. / Social workers practicing in the physical rehabilitation field work with different types of knowledge, but only a few studies looked into the relationship between them. The present research project aims at understanding the place these social workers allow different types of knowledge in their practice. We distinguish theoretical knowledge, produced scientifically, practice knowledge, built from action and experience, and existential knowledge, like beliefs and values. The information collected qualitatively from eight semi-directed interviews with these social workers was codified and analyzed horizontally and vertically. This demonstrates that all types of knowledge have a place in practice and are equal and complementary. They fulfill different functions either addressed to specific actors, and moments in intervention, or to many of them at once. This project produced both practical and theoretical knowledge that have an impact on practice and research, but that leave some unresolved questions to get back to in the future.

Den här uppsatsen handlar om facilitatorns roll och yrkeskunnande. En roll som är relativt ny och för de flesta fortfarande helt obekant. Facilitatorn anlitas för att underlätta för grupper att föra samtal och dialog, men också för att gemensamt reflektera. Viktiga förutsättningar för att hitta formerna för fruktbara samarbeten, vilket står högt på många organisationers agendor idag.   I uppsatsen redogör jag inledningsvis för den möteskultur som råder inom organisationer idag. En kultur där medarbetare och chefer avsätter mycket tid i möten som vare sig ger dem själva, organisationen eller samhället något av värde. Det är många gånger envägskommunikation eller förmedling av information. I en tidsanda som ställer höga krav på rationaliseringar och effektivseringar har det dessvärre också blivit så, att tiden för samtal och genuina dialoger succesivt har reducerats till förmån för ökad kommunikation i olika digitala kanaler, inte misnt e-mail och sociala medier. Jag vill hävda att vi människor behöver träffas och samtala för att nå en gemensam och fördjupad förståelse för varandra och våra olika sakfrågor. Vad händer på sikt om vi inte ges möjlighet till gemensam reflektion? Hur ska vi kunna samarbeta om vi inte lär känna varandra och de förutsättningar som råder?   I inledningen redogör jag även för delar av den kunskapsteori som finns kopplat till ämnesområdet yrkeskunnande och teknologi, men också för min mission – att återerövra samtalet som en viktig arbetsmetod. Uppsatsen är skriven i essäistisk stil och det empiriska materialet kommer från de texter jag själv har författat under masterutbildnignens två år då dialogseminariemetoden tillämpats, men också från den dialogseminarieserie som jag själv har genomfört med sex andra facilitatorskollegor. Tillsammans har vi börjat utforska vår gemensamma profession och det yrkeskunnande som vi representerar.   Facilitatorns yrkeskunnande är mångfacetterat och svårfångat, men handlar i mångt och mycket om att vara öppen för människors olikheter. Se dem som berikande. Vara krockfrämjande. Bejaka olika perspektiv och infallsvinklar på saker och ting. Inte vara rädd för att konfrontera. Facilitatorn jobbar med olika tempoväxlingar och har en mängd olika metoder och tekniker till sitt förfogande för att möta olika problemställningar. Planerat eller improviserat. Det finns tydliga analogier med teatern, men också med läkar- och läraryrket. Det handlar om att skapa spänningar och väcka känslor hos deltagarna. Och sedan ta hand om och förvalta de känslor som väckts. Som facilitator blir man aldrig fullärd. Alla grupper är olika och varje ny mötessituation bjuder på nya utmaningar.   För mig känns det som att resan mot bättre vetande precis har börjat. I mina texter kan jag skönja en utveckling över tid, men det finns otaliga gator kvar att utforska. Jag är fortsatt nyfiken och jag vet bestämt att jag vil fortsätta att fördjupa mina kunskaper om facilitatorns yrkeskunnande och gärna då med dialogseminariet som fortsatt forskningsmetod. / This thesis explores the role and skills of a professional facilitator. A facilitator is hired to facilitate meetings and other group processes trough dialogue, conversations and active participation, with the purpose of makig reflection and collaboration within and between organisations possible.

Introduction: Les professionnels de la réadaptation de l’accident vasculaire cérébral (AVC) ont la responsabilité d’offrir des services de qualité ancrés dans les données probantes. Cette responsabilité relève du rôle d’érudit selon le cadre de compétences CanMEDS. Quelle place occupe par ce rôle en clinique? Objectifs : 1) Documenter les perceptions, expériences et vécus en lien avec le rôle d’érudit chez les professionnels de la réadaptation de l’AVC. 2) Identifier les facteurs perçus comme facilitant ou entravant ce rôle clinique. Méthodologie : Étude qualitative exploratoire d’orientation phénoménologique par entrevue individuelle de professionnels travaillant en réadaptation de l’AVC depuis au moins deux ans. Codification des verbatim avec le logiciel QDA-Miner. Résultats : Les participants (âge moyen 40,7 ans ± 11,2) sont majoritairement des femmes (9/11) et leur expérience de travail en AVC varie de 3 à 23 ans. Les principaux thèmes identifiés sont: 1) Les savoirs tacites sont perçus comme synonyme du rôle d’érudit; 2) L’expérience de travail et l’intuition clinique amènent confiance et confort dans les pratiques; 3) L’insatisfaction quant au manque de partage des connaissances; 4) L’importance de la diversification dans les tâches cliniques et 5) La pratique réflexive est peu développée. Les quatre facteurs influençant le rôle d’érudit sont: la motivation; l’incident critique, les stagiaires et le manque de temps. Conclusion : Le rôle d’érudit apparaît peu valorisé par les participants. Il existe un écart entre le rôle d’érudit tel que décrit dans les cadres de compétences et la façon dont il est actualisé en pratique clinique. / Introduction: Stroke rehabilitation clinicians are responsible for offering quality services through evidence-based practice. This responsibility springs from the Scholar Role described in the CanMEDS framework. How is this role fulfilled in the clinical setting? Objective: 1) To explore the perceptions, experiences, and attitudes of rehabilitation professionals regarding their role as Scholar in their practice; 2) To identify factors that facilitate or hinder this role as scholar. Methods: Qualitative design with a phenomenological orientation. Face-to-face interviews were conducted among professional with at least two years experience in stroke rehabilitation using a pre-tested interview guide; Verbatims were coded using QDA-Miner software. Results: Mean age of the participants was 40.7 years ± 11.2. Participants were mostly women (n = 9/11). The role of scholar emerged as not having great value for the participants. Main themes emerging from the analysis include the following: 1) emphasis on tacit knowledge; 2) experience and clinical intuition leading to self-confidence and comfort in clinical practice; 3) dissatisfaction with the lack of knowledge sharing among clinicians; 4) importance of diversifying clinical tasks; 5) underdevelopment of reflective practice. The four factors influencing the role of scholar: motivation, critical incident as a trigger of reflective practice and interns facilitating reflective practice; lack of time acted as an obstacle. Conclusion: There is a discrepancy between the role of the scholar as described by the canMEDS framework and how it is actualized in clinical practice.

This study, based on interviews with seven teachers of Swedish, investigates how they define the concept of text interpretation and how they assess pupils’ ability to interpret text. The results show that the teachers define text interpretation as an ability to perceive hidden messages in text and an ability that is closely connected to reading comprehension. This description agrees with the way text interpretation is explained in previous research but not with the description in the curriculum. This is a defect, since teachers ought to know what they are supposed to assess, based on the steering documents they are expected to follow in their professional practice. Here, however, the teachers’ assessment skills are shown to be an asset. When teaching literature the teachers say that they normally use dialogue and written assignments in which pupils reason on the basis of the content of the text and their personal experience. The forms of assessment are summative and formal, although it seems difficult to use fixed answer templates for reasoning in contexts like this where it is not clear what can be said to be right or wrong. Summative assessment, however, seems more reliable and credible than formative assessment. A picture thus emerges of the difficulty of assessing text interpretation which is simultaneously multivalent and reliable. / Denna studie är grundad på intervjuer av 7 svensklärare i syfte att undersöka hur de definierar begreppet texttolkning och hur de bedömer elevers förmåga att tolka text. I resultatet framgår att lärarna definierar texttolkning som en förmåga att uppfatta dolda budskap i text och en förmåga som är nära sammankopplad med läsförståelse. Denna beskrivning stämmer väl överens med hur texttolkning förklaras i tidigare forskning men inte med den beskrivning som framkommer i läroplanen. Detta är en brist då lärare bör veta vad de ska bedöma, utifrån styrdokument de ska utgå från i sin yrkesutövning. Här framstår dock lärares bedömningsfärdighet som en tillgång. Vid litteraturundervisning säger lärarna att de vanligen tillämpar dialog och skriftliga inlämningsuppgifter, med resonemang utifrån både textens innehåll och personliga erfarenheter. Bedömningsformerna är summativa och formella, även om fasta svarsmallar ter sig svåra att använda vid resonemang, då det i dessa sammanhang inte tydligt framgår något som med säkerhet kan sägas vara rätt eller fel. Summativ bedömning ter sig dock mer tillförlitlig och trovärdig vid en bedömningssituation, jämfört med formativ. Här framkommer således en bild av att det är svårt att bedöma texttolkning som på samma gång är flertydig och tillförlitlig.

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This research report captures a detailed exposition of an investigation on Knowledge Management (KM) practices in public and private sector entities in three industries (health, education and business loans) of Limpopo province – a proxy of the rural areas of South Africa. The investigation was necessitated by a need to understand KM in organisational context experiencing constraints in terms of resources that enable KM. It was found through an intensive literature review that there were very few empirical studies on KM practices of organisations operating in the rural areas, particularly in Africa. The theoretical framework of the study emanates from the knowledge-based view which has been popularised by the seminal work of Peter Drucker and Nonaka in the early half of the 90s. The knowledge-based view as presented in chapter 2 recognises the strategic role of knowledge in organisations. Its genesis is traced from the theories of classical scholars such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Various empirical studies of entities which have adopted the knowledge-based view are presented in chapter 2 of this report. The researcher observes from an intensive KM literature study that the average modern organisation could be categorised as knowledge-intensive considering that knowledge workers constitute the majority of its workforce. The definitions of a knowledge-based organisation and knowledge workers are presented in the operational definitions of key concepts. Arising from the identified gaps in KM literature as presented towards the end of chapter 2, this study was conducted as a comparative study between public and private sector entities in three research industries focusing on their extent of ICT application and degree of knowledge-oriented social factors for information and knowledge sharing. The investigation was guided by three research objectives as discussed in chapter 1 of this research report. The main purpose of the study was to answer two fundamental research questions as reflected in chapter 1. In answering the two research questions, the researcher identified four research hypotheses in line with the findings established from KM literature. These hypotheses are discussed in chapter 2 of this report.The underlying hypothesised statement guiding the study was to determine whether there were any significant differences in KM implementation between public and private sector entities in the three research industries in terms of four research constructs. These are: application of ICTs for knowledge and information sharing, degree of achievement of knowledge-based outcomes, tacit knowledge acquisition and the degree of knowledge-oriented social factors. Organisational culture, organisational structures, human resource practices and leadership comprised the social factors tested in the study. The research data were collected through a mixed research design approach combining the advantages of a survey instrument and interviews (this is fully reflected in chapter 3 of this research report). The research results (as presented in chapter 4) pointed to some form of significant differences in KM implementation between public and private sector entities in the education and business loans industry, but there were no significant differences in KM implementation between public and private sector entities in the health industry. Arising from the findings of the study, a model for improved KM implementation is presented in chapter 4 (figure 4.16). It was found during the investigation that all the research entities approached KM implicitly through KM related practices. KM related practices were found to be far more entrenched in the health industry (both public and private sector entities), the private sector entities in the education and business loans industries than was the case with the public sector entities in the education and business loans industries. In the entities where KM related practices were found to be entrenched, there were concerted efforts towards improved organisational processes. The study has managed to unravel the importance of KM related practices in laying the foundation for a formalised KM approach. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / D.B.L.

Rapid change is a defining characteristic of our modern society. This has huge impact on society, governments, and businesses. Businesses are forced to fundamentally transform themselves to survive in a challenging economy. Transformation implies change in the way business is conducted, in the way people perform their contribution to the organisation, and in the way the organisation perceives and manages its vital assets – which increasingly are built around the key assets of intellectual capital and knowledge. The latest management tool and realisation of how to respond to the challenges of the economy in the new millennium, is the idea of "knowledge management" (KM). In this study we have focused on synthesising the many confusing points of view about the subject area, such as: <ul><li> a. different focus points or perspectives; </li><li> b. different definitions and positioning of the subject; as well as</li><li> c. a bewildering number of definitions of what knowledge is and what KM entails.</li></ul> There exists a too blurred distinction in popular-magazine-like sources about this area between subjects and concepts such as: knowledge versus information versus data; the difference between information management and knowledge management; tools available to tackle the issues in this field of study and practice; and the role technology plays versus the huge hype from some journalists and within the vendor community. Today there appears to be a lack of a coherent set of frameworks to abstract, comprehend, and explain this subject area; let alone to build successful systems and technologies with which to apply KM. The study is comprised of two major parts:<ul><li> 1. In the first part the study investigates the concepts, elements, drivers, and challenges related to KM. A set of models for comprehending these issues and notions is contributed as we considered intellectual capital, organizational learning, communities of practice, and best practices. </li><li> 2. The second part focuses on the technology perspective of KM. Although KM is primarily concerned with non-technical issues this study concentrates on the technical issues and challenges. A new technology framework for KM is proposed to position and relate the different KM technologies as well as the two key applications of KM, namely knowledge portals and knowledge discovery (including text mining). </li></ul> It is concluded that KM and related concepts and notions need to be understood firmly as well as effectively positioned and employed to support the modern business organisation in its quest to survive and grow. The main thesis is that KM technology is a necessary but insufficient prerequisite and a key enabler for successful KM in a rapidly changing business environment. / Thesis (PhD (Computer Science))--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Computer Science / unrestricted