Thesis (M.S.)--Air Force Institute of Technology, 2006. / AFIT/GIR/ENV/06-01S. "September 2006." Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Nov. 16, 2007). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-111).

The diploma thesis focuses on the issue of knowledge management, its principles and its application. The first part focuses on theoretical foundations. These are then used for analytical and practical part, which is dedicated to a proposal of own solution, where I propose practices to eliminate the identified weaknesses.

Knowledge-intensive firms (KIFs) depend on their workers’ knowledge assets more than capital- and labour-intensive firms. Knowledge assets, such as human and social capital, enable KIFs to innovate, solve problems, and build relationships. But managing a highly skilled and well-connected workforce presents several HRM challenges – perhaps none more so than hiring. In tight labour markets, workers’ knowledge assets are strategically valuable and rare. To attract knowledge workers, KIFs must signal significant value from entering into employment relationships. They must use hiring strategies that communicate positive organisational attributes (employer branding), as well as HRM practices that entice job seekers (employment inducements).Previous studies on KIFs have focused largely on Western contexts. Few studies have considered HRM by KIFs in developing economies. In China, the focus of this study, KIFs are an emerging organisational form that have grown from privately owned start-ups in high-tech sectors. Such firms encounter hiring challenges at both organisational and external environmental levels. For example, privately owned KIFs face intense labour market competition from state-owned and foreign-invested enterprises for highly skilled workers. This has fuelled upsurges in wages and high turnover. Most private firms are small and vulnerable to market forces, yet scholars know little about their hiring and HRM approaches. Almost no studies have systematically examined hiring as a ‘single’ HRM issue within privately owned Chinese KIFs. By synthesising Western and Chinese HRM literatures, this study developed an analytical framework to explore organisational and external factors that explain variations in KIFs’ hiring strategies and practices. The study conducted interviews with managers and HR workers in seven privately owned KIFs and one state-funded training school.Several case firms had implemented sophisticated strategies that linked hiring with business objectives. Managers and HR workers acquired HRM knowledge from several sources including the Internet and HRM texts, management consultancies, in-house training, the state’s HR qualification, and informal HR clubs. However, firm size and reputation, as well as managers’ tacit beliefs still limited some KIFs’ abilities to attract talented individuals. Firms generally used a wide range of inducements to attract knowledge workers, including competitive salaries, career development, and ‘paternalistic cultures’. Most participants perceived worker referrals, headhunting, and universities to be effective hiring sources. Thus, some firms had developed strategic hiring approaches that enabled them to compete with state-owned and foreign-invested firms. But small KIFs, in particular, must still strengthen their employer branding to offset competition and labour market ‘invisibility’. KIFs must also deliver on their employment inducements, lest they risk high turnover and a loss of valuable human and social capital.

The diploma thesis is dedicated to the purpose and importance of knowledge management. The aim of this work is to describe the chief knowledge officer position in the knowledge society. It defines its roles and identifies competencies that are keys to success of this position. It unveils impact and responsibilities of chief knowledge officer in a knowledge organization. It assesses and predicts development of this position. The thesis can be divided into two parts, theoretical and empirical. First chapters focus on the theory in the field of knowledge management, knowledge society and furthermore it focuses on the position chief knowledge officer, its development and competencies. The thesis contains also an analysis of research from foreign countries. Empirical part of the thesis includes interviews with representatives on the position chief knowledge officer. Keywords: Knowledge management Chief knowledge officer Knowledge society Intellectual capital Enterprises

This thesis analyses the process of knowledge-base adoption in the enterprise environment. Using data from two knowledge-management systems operated by the company, Semanta, s.r.o. we studied the day-to-day interactions of employees using the system and identified the important drivers of system adoption. We began by studying the effect of co-workers' collaborative activities on knowledge creation within the system. It was found that they had a positive and significant impact upon overall knowledge creation and thus on adoption. Secondly, we explored how the newly defined concept of gamification could help determine and encourage an increase in knowledge creation. The use of gamification tools, such as the "Hall of Fame" page, turned out to have significant influence in the adoption process. Thirdly, we examined how users continually seek knowledge within the system and how asking for missing information and being supplied with answers has an impact on adoption rates. It was shown that the quicker the responses and the more experts dealing with requests the greater the impact on knowledge base adoption. Finally, we showed that the size and character of the company deploying the knowledge management system does not influence the adoption drivers. This thesis represents an effort to fill the...

In a commercial environment that is ever changing, organisations have to constantly adapt to remain competitive. To ensure the benefits of change are achieved a coherent and structured approach to implementing change is essential, as disconnected initiatives often fail. This thesis presents a series of eight continuous improvement projects undertaken by a leading engineering design consultancy. The projects use a range of process management and knowledge management techniques to improve specific aspects of the sponsor's business, in particular how it manages its organisational knowledge, business processes and management systems. To better understand the strengths and weakness of process and knowledge management techniques, in order to see how they can be combined, the techniques are first applied separately on six projects. Based on the lessons learnt from these projects, key aspects of the process and knowledge management techniques used are then combined to create two robust business solutions that have the potential to significantly benefit the sponsor's business. In developing and implementing the solutions, to the eight specific business issues covered in this thesis, a number of key issues relating to the architecture of successful systems and the organisational change management process involved with implementing these systems are captured. These key points are summarised into recommendations focused at both academic and commercial organisations.

Comments and Discussions : Hideko SAKURAI (櫻井秀子)

Zugl.: Bremen, Univ., Diss., 2008

The thesis on the topic of Taking Care of GE and Knowledge Transfer in Company X has examined the practice in the field of the global assignments of the company X hand in hand with a qualitative research method among the GE of X. First, theoretical proposals were introduced and analysed. Then they were connected with the results of the research and discussed and proposals were made for optimising of the care taking about the GE and for releasing the knowledge flow in X.

The thesis is focused on knowledge management and discuss the possibilities of its usage in the area of project management. Knowledge management comes up with systematic work with knowledge. The aim of knowledge management is to create a company culture which motivates employees to share and apply their knowledge in an effective way. Knowledge is today a huge competitive advantage and it makes companies get interested in knowledge management ant its implementation. Communities and knowledge base are great tools of knowledge management and they both have a great potential of usage in different areas.