Sustainable energy services aim to meet the energy demands and to improve the living standards of rural communities with the utilization of sustainable energy technologies. Such services are becoming increasingly important due to the reduction of traditional energy resources and the ongoing increase in the demands. The demands are mainly due to the growth of population, domestic consumptions and industrial uses. In addition, increasing awareness of issues such as global warming, carbon emission, peak oil and the need for a sustainable environment has kindled keen interests in sustainable energy around the world. Many projects on sustainable energy services have been launched and particularly in developing countries. In most areas, at least one type of sustainable energy resources is available. In the case of Thailand, in additional to resources such as solar and wind, there are other sustainable energy resources in the forms of biomass and waste residue from agricultural products. However, there exist practical problems hindering the success of many sustainable energy projects. Two key reasons are the lack of in depth knowledge regarding the sustainable energy systems among the local users, and the limited budgets for planning, research and development. Therefore, the need to promote better understanding of sustainable energy technologies is necessary in order to gain better utilization of the energy services and acceptance by the community. One possible solution is the use of a Knowledge Management System (KMS). Based on advanced Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the integration of knowledge management and web technologies has enabled KMS to be developed as an effective tool for the sharing, management and dissemination of valuable knowledge on any particular subject. This combination has the potential to promote the knowledge and initiate relevant activities thereby enabling the acquisition and management of diverse types of information and data. Typical functions and services which could be provided are: checking updated information on sustainable energy resources around a particular area; teaching of sustainable energy systems development and maintenance processes; sharing of best practices and lessons learned…etc. With the availability of the internet, a Web-based KMS will be a valuable channel for the gathering, sharing, extracting and dissemination of knowledge about the sustainable energy services for the Thai communities. This thesis presents the research and development of a knowledge management (KM) platform for sustainable energy technologies. The system is implemented with web GIS server-side application and it is installed at the School of Renewable Energy Technology, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand. To assess the effectiveness of the developed system, surveys in the form of pre-questionnaires and post-questionnaires from the users are used. Such information is used to determine the effectiveness of the system and to measure the improvement of the participants’ knowledge on the subject. There are three groups of participants involved in this study: local government administrators, researchers and general users. The overall results of the questionnaires reveal that the participants are satisfied with the performance of the KM platform. The results also indicated that the KM platform provides adequate knowledge on the subject and it has a high level of user friendliness. It was found that the participants’ knowledge is also increased and the increase is in proportion to the time they engaged with the KM platform. A linear regression analysis of the researchers and local government administrators has shown that the increment of the participants’ knowledge has a linear relationship with the learning period on the KM platform with statistical significance. Findings from this study can be used as a guideline and for further development on improving the local Thai communities’ knowledge on sustainable energy technologies.

An alignment or “fit” between an organization’s objectives and knowledge management (KM) practices should be established in order for the organization to fully utilize its knowledge assets and to derive competitive advantages. The organization should deploy a holistic approach for KM that spans business strategy, information system (IS) strategy, organization culture, and human factors. This research has investigated the strategic alignment between knowledge strategy and business strategy - KMBS-SA and the strategic alignment between knowledge strategy and IS strategy - KMIS-SA in the banking sector among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Using the proposed model, the study explored the impacts of KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA on the organizational performance. The main hypothesis of this research is that knowledge is the main resource in an organization, and by aligning this resource with the business strategy and IS strategy, the alignment will contribute positively on the performance of the organization. The research model was illustrated in two different conceptualizations hypothesizing the different relationships between knowledge strategies, business strategy and IS strategy. The first conceptualization illustrates the KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA, and an investigation on the contribution of theses alignments on the organizational performance. The second conceptualization of the research model aims at investigating the impact of different types or profiles of KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA on the organizational performance. This study examined different alignments between two profiles of knowledge strategy - Aggressive Knowledge Strategy (AKS) and Conservative Knowledge Strategy (CKS), with various types of business strategy according to Miles and Snow’s (1978) strategic typology, and, the alignment of the two profiles of knowledge strategy with various IS strategy based on the STROIS approach by Chan et al. (1997). Using both conceptualizations, the role of knowledge strategy as a moderator or a mediator in the contribution of the business strategy and IS strategy towards the organizational performance was examined. The primary data for this study was collected through a survey of 106 banks from the six Gulf countries: Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Oman. The first overall conclusion demonstrated that there is a strong association between knowledge strategy and business strategy and that KMBS-SA clearly influenced the organizational performance. The second overall result of this research shows that in the context of GCC countries, knowledge strategy received stronger support as moderator of the IS congruence association with performance and that KMIS-SA is the primary determinant of the effectiveness of IS in the GCC banks. From the finding, it is recommended that the GCC banks should take KMBS-SA and KMIS-SA challenge seriously and should consider the alignment implication before moving ahead to implement a strategic plan. Furthermore, the research finding revealed that GCC bank should not ignore the different dimensions of knowledge strategic choices. The banks need to determine different profiles for their knowledge strategy in order to support all aspects of business strategy and IS strategic dimensions that are most important for the organization. They should then direct the organizational knowledge resources to support these profiles. Finally, it is recommended that the banks should define and establish a position in KM in order to oversee the knowledge strategy and KM issues.

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”.

This thesis analyses the material and ideological dimensions of the knowledge economy with particular reference to New Zealand. The emergence of the new information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of transnational capitalism precipitates the co modification of information, communication and knowledge. This process is obscured by the ideological construction of techno-futurism. Techno-futurism is a combination of technological determinism and futurism that appropriates notions of progress. In the pages which follow, historical analyses of this ideology inform the subsequent critique of knowledge economy discourse. In New Zealand knowledge economy discourse contained techno-futurist elements and deflected attention from the global absorption of national capitalism. In this context the Catching the Knowledge Wave Conference (KWC), held in Auckland in the first days of August 2001, is examined. I argue that the instigators and organisers of the conference were enmeshed within the business culture of finance capital and ICTs. Textual analysis of keynote addresses reveals the ideological dimensions to knowledge wave and knowledge economy talk. These dimensions are; entrepreneurialism, knowledge as (economic) progress, and globalism.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Business. / The discourse on knowledge management (KM) has emerged relatively recently in the field of management. Organisational and strategic theories have been developed which seek to explain the existence, boundaries, structure, management and competitive advantage of organisations based on knowledge. These theories are consistent with one thread from the overall discourse which argues that the management of knowledge within an organisation is an important activity required for maintaining competitive advantage in a hypercompetitive external environment. Despite the extensive interest in this area, there is sti11limited agreement even about some of its fundamental principles. This plurality of perspectives is due to the diversity of disciplines, theories and objectives with which the area is enriched by both academics and practitioners alike. Many independent KM initiatives have also been proposed for managerial use under the KM umbrella. Such activities include meetings, mentoring schemes, training, job rotation, site visits, conferences and exhibitions, and internal and external collaborations. Many of these initiatives are relatively autonomous and independent concepts. Generally these concepts have been first identified in the practitioner literature and it is unclear where they fit within academic frameworks. In particular, the relationship between KM initiatives and important related academic concepts such as knowledge transfer, organisationalleaming, knowledge creation and innovation is not clear. This lack of agreement, clarity and cohesion in the KM discourse naturally suggests the following research problem: What is the relationship between KM initiatives, organisationalleaming, knowledge transfer, knowledge creation innovation? Taking an organisation and strategic management theory perspective, an exploratory framework for understanding and explaining KM is developed within this thesis. Theoretically, this framework draws together perspectives from the resource-based view of the firm, organisational learning and innovation literatures to propose that the two fundamental KM processes are knowledge transfer and creation. Knowledge transfer supports learning and the utilisation of available internal and external knowledge resources within an organisation. Through knowledge transfer and learning, new knowledge can be created and organisational innovation takes place. These two processes are then integrated into Whittington, Pettigrew et al.'s (1999) framework for organisational change. Various disparate KM initiatives are also positioned within the developed framework based on whether they facilitate knowledge transfer by altering organisational boundaries, processes or structures. The essence of the developed framework is represented pictorially by a research model. This research model depicts the framework's key concepts and the relationships between them. It also begins to represent some of the complex dimensionality inherent in the framework. The research model is explored empirically using data from the Business Longitudinal Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Responses from 3014 Australian businesses surveyed yearly from 1994 to 1998 are analysed using chi-squared and logistical regression statistical techniques. This sample consists of 1344 small and 1670 medium businesses across eleven industries. In empirically exploring the research model, some of the dimensionality of the framework is explored. However, the process also provides a confirmatory function by providing empirical support for many of the aspects of the framework. Statistical support was found for all elements of the research model. Odds ratios for the various KM initiatives examined ranged from 1.292 to 3.554. These results confirm the value of these initiatives for facilitating the transfer of knowledge. They also suggest that the dimensionality of these constructs represented in the model should be explored further. Of all the KM initiatives, research and development emerged as the most effective initiative for facilitating knowledge transfer and creation. This finding suggests that research and development should be the very first initiative considered by managers looking to implement a KM program. It also suggests that future research on knowledge transfer and creation should pay particular attention to this particular initiative. The logistical regression analysis demonstrated that changing organisational boundaries, processes and structures all contribute to facilitating knowledge transfer which lead to knowledge creation. These results provided support for the most important contribution of the thesis. This contribution was the development of an integrated and exploratory conceptual framework which can serve as a foundation stone for the field of KM.

<p>Intranät. Bloggar och Wikis är idag verktyg som ofta förknippas med information och kunskap. Verktygen figurerar på senare tid allt oftare inom organisationer för bevaring, spridning och överföring av information samt som strategiska verktyg inom Knowledge Management där de faller inom kategorin Knowledge Management Systems. Denna studie har till syfte att redogöra för hur och varför IT-organisationer använder Intranät, Bloggar och Wikis som information och kunskapskanaler. Syftet är även att se till hur anställda inom IT-organisationer upplever och ser på dessa verktyg samt vilka faktorer som kan ha påverkan på användandet. Den empiriska studien är utförd med en kvalitativ ansats representerad av åtta stycken intervjuer på IT-organisationen VGR-IT i Göteborg. </p><p>Resultatet visade att organisationens Intranät ofta används på fel sätt och fallerar att nå upp till dess fulla kapacitet. Det ses som ett verktyg där formell information trycks ut från ledning utan möjlighet till påverkan eller diskussion av det publicerade materialet. Substitut och friare alternativ för detta finns i organisationens Bloggar och Wikis där anställda kan utvinna kunskap, dela med sig av erfarenheter och kommunicera på ett informellt vis. Dock visade resultatet att Bloggar och Wikis används i en begränsad utsträckning där visioner om dess användande är större än det praktiska. Verktygen sågs som en samarbetsyta men det var flertalet faktorer som påverkade användandet av verktygen såsom; styrning och kontroll, Strategier, Kulturella aspekter och Arbetsrutiner. </p><p>Det visade sig finnas en klyfta mellan generationer och hur de såg på informationshantering och att sättet för hur information kommuniceras är en kvarleva från äldre generationers tänkande i kombination med bristande engagemang till att generera nya tankar och idéer.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Study based on data derived from a sampling of 189 large U.S. law firms. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-101). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

As more and more convenience technology brings to human’s life by breaking through the obstacles of geography and psychology, e-health is being accepted by increasing number of people. It shows great potential to decrease the gap between the needs and satisfaction. However, the potential of e-health is far from being noticed. Knowledge shows inevitable advantages in different domains and of course the same in the health care industry. There are many different aspects that can be investigated and improved to reach the purpose, but in this dissertation, we aims to explore how to achieve a better knowledge transfer and sharing among e-health service-providers in order to create high-quality services that will be delivered to the patients. In general, U-CARE community is the one case that studied in this dissertation to explore how to identify knowledge transfer &amp; sharing practices and what techniques can be used to improve it in the context of e-health. A theoretical framework from Etienne Wenger is applied here to help the author understand community well. Further analysis and discussion are based both on existing theories derived from literature review and empirical data obtained in interviews. The main contribution from the author and conclusion in this dissertation are summarized in a format of framework concerning useful techniques and methods (shown in Figure 9), which involves knowledge transfer and sharing practices related to formal/informal meetings, face-to-face communication, coordinator, online platform, IT tools, change management, documentation management, tracking of requirements &amp; decisions, library of FAQ and personalization. The transferred and shared knowledge investigated in this dissertation is “back-office” data, not directly related to patient data, so the protection of patient personal privacy is not a consideration in this dissertation.