Background: The reason for conducting this master thesis within the field of knowledge management derived from the realization that there was a need for an increased understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of the integration and transfer of knowledge in cross-functional new product development projects. Research advocates that organizations with organic project-based environments with fluid team boundaries may aggravate routine-based work and organizational memory, which in turn may lead to an organizations’ inability of capturing and storing existing personalized knowledge for internal storage and future transfer (Koskinen, 2004). For this reason, the conversion of knowledge for re-use between and within projects in an organization is not supported in a natural way (Lindner and Wald, 2011). To this end, organizational culture is critically important in facilitating a knowledge transfer culture within an organization that supports such knowledge conversion processes (Davenport and Prusak, 1998a). Thus, an increased understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of knowledge integration and transfer in cross-functional projects is viewed as an opportunity to contribute with findings with interest in both industry and academia. Increasing the understanding of organizational culture’s role in knowledge conversion facilitation is particularly seen as an important research area in existing knowledge management research. The study aimed to produce a deeper understanding of these social processes by exploring and interpreting them in their real-life social contexts. Research question: How does organizational culture and knowledge management strategies support as well as hinder knowledge integration and transfer between cross-functional product development teams and specialists in a project-based organization? Purpose: To increase the understanding of the socio-cultural dynamics of knowledge integration and transfer in cross-functional projects. In order to study the socio-cultural elements, a case study in a global Swedish company engaged in new product development was conducted during the spring of 2016. Method: The research design of the study was case study. The empirical data was collected through face-to-face interviews, observations and studying of internal steering documentations. The author found it necessary to adopt an interpretivist epistemological position with a qualitative focus in alignment with employing abductive reasoning in order to understand the collected data and to explore the posed research question. Quality measures with respect to qualitative research studies were cautiously considered. Conclusion: This study found that an organization with a network-based knowledge culture and a standardized process with standards and routines for effective knowledge conversion processes are two sides of the same coin that can support the knowledge integration and transfer between cross-functional product development teams and specialists in a project-based organization. Further, both a single dominant organizational culture and multiple local cultures within an organization can both support and hinder the integration and transfer of knowledge. In extension to this finding, inconsistencies in the knowledge integration and transfer processes may evolve across these different cultural interpretations which may further support or hinder the social dynamics in an organization. Moreover, my study suggests that a network-based knowledge culture can interact with a standardized process in order to enable effective knowledge integration and transfer routines.

From Mother of Society to a Teacher Qualified for Post-graduate Studies – Continuity and Change in a Local Pre-school Education. The aim of this thesis is to throw light upon the basic values and representations of knowledge within a local female teacher education tradition and identify what kind of expectations are held of a pre-school teacher over time. The main question concerns central values and notions in a local pre-school teacher education regarding what is expected of a recognised pre-school teacher between the beginning of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. A key interest is how these underlying values and notions are maintained and how they are transformed over time. Another interest is how these values and notions are maintained and transformed when they meet other teacher education traditions and when they are confronted with traditional academic values. The preschool teacher education is deeply rooted in a female tradition and the study presented here also focuses on the role that gender plays in the formation, changes and continuity of the central values in pre-school teacher education. The empirical sources include in-depth-interviews with 22 lecturers and supervisors from a local pre-school education in addition to document studies of selected materials from the archives of the Department of Education at Örebro University and at the Örebro University Library. The historical context and the dimension of time have been analysed using James Wertsch’s (2002) conception of voices of collective remembering in addition to the concepts of knowledge cultures (Englund & Linné 2005, Nerland 2008) and communities of practice (Lave and Wenger 2003). The results presented in this dissertation indicate that major shifts have occurred in the collective memory of the local pre-school teacher education during the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century. I have distinguished seven historical periodic themes in the analysis. These are: Mother of society – formation of a new female activity system (ca 1902–1942), All-round kindergarten leader (ca 1942–1963), Personality development and child observation (ca 1963–1972), Developmental psychology and dialogue pedagogy (ca 1972–1977), Education in a university setting and a citizen of society (ca 1977–1983), Reflective child pedagogue (ca 1982 1993) and Teacher of younger children – qualified for a research tradition (ca 2001– 2007).

While the importance of knowledge creation and management has been widely recognised as vital to an organisation's ongoing competitiveness and success since the 1990s, there has been little systematic study of knowledge creation and transfer processes in organisations. Much of what has been reported in the literature is anecdotal in nature. Particularly lacking is research within an international context, exploring issues related to the transfer of knowledge across countries and culture. It is proposed that there is a need for theory building research in the area of knowledge transfer. Given the complex and social nature of knowledge, a qualitative approach to undertaking this research was adopted. The study is an inductive, theory-building case study in relation to a multinational company. In summary, this study evaluated the effectiveness of a best practice knowledge management program in achieving knowledge transfer in sales and marketing practices throughout the markets of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. It considered the methods by which knowledge was transferred and their relative effectiveness, and those factors which may have mediated or limited the knowledge transfer processes. The research was undertaken by the company's Knowledge Manager who had created the best-practice knowledge transfer program. The implications of this situation on the study's validity and reliability are discussed, and were taken into account in the design of the questionnaire and in the analysis of all findings. The case study site was a European-based, global travel technology company. The principal data-gathering method was a structured interview conducted by telephone with senior staff from within 28 European and Latin American markets. In total, 31 interviews were undertaken. This broad-ranging interview method gathered information and feedback on the processes used for identifying and distributing best practices in sales and marketing. The interview data were supplemented by feedback questionnaires from best practice forums, intranet usage statistics, observations from best practice forums and from interviews with staff in the central organisation. While there was evidence that knowledge transfer had occurred, the results of the study highlighted the difficulties in effectively measuring the knowledge transfer process. It is the researcher's view that clear and visible measures of knowledge transfer are not universal or even generic, but rather are to be discerned in a range of indicators across actions, behaviours, attitudes and outcomes in culture-specific settings. A time based knowledge measurement model was developed to assist in this regard. Other major outcomes from the research included: * The confirmation of the critical importance of face-to-face communication mechanisms for knowledge transfer to result in knowledge uptake. * The identification of the role of technology as an enabler of communication and distribution of knowledge, but not as a driver for action or knowledge uptake. * The recognition of the relationship between the broad factors impacting on knowledge transfer such as organisational factors, external environment and individual characteristics, in a complex and non-linear manner, suggesting that knowledge transfer is a multi-factorial process involving interacting variables to an extent greater than generally accepted hitherto. A tool for use within organisational settings has been developed in this regard. * The identification of the interplay between different individual specific characteristics or factors such as personal experience of change, experience of working in a different cultural context, ego/personality, and credibility of the person transmitting the practice which influence the decision to adopt or not adopt a practice from another market. * The identification of the need for cultural similarity and high levels of homogeneity, in terms of market maturity, market size and competitive position for practices to transfer more often between countries. * The recognition that many factors operate to influence and shape the knowledge or indeed to block the transfer of practices between countries, with resistance to other practices possibly relating to an individual's need for the application of creativity, personal ownership and control. Additionally, the researcher observed that much of the language within the existing literature describing those factors which block or limit knowledge transfer is negatively framed. The researcher believes that a change in attitude about the positive influence of an individual's filtering processes, together with a change in organisational language describing resistance to knowledge transfer, would yield a positive impact on individuals' attitudes and behaviour with regard to knowledge transfer. Several areas for further research as a result of the study were identified and include individual factors such as cultural characteristics, motivation, personality and adult learning styles. Additionally, a more detailed examination and understanding of the impact of organisational factors such as leadership and generational gaps on knowledge transfer would be of significant value to the body of knowledge.

The path to a career in nursing begins on the first day of nursing training and is not completed until the nurses have worked one year in their profession. During the training period, the student nurses have training elements in two different activitysystems: the higher education institution and the healthcare sector. The aim of this study is to examine and highlight the relationship between the different parts of the training as well as how the relationship is manifested during the newly qualified nurses’ initial period in the profession. The research’s overall question is what makes the newly qualified nurses’ learning and knowledge development easier or harder in relation to the different parts of the nursing training. Interviews have been used to create data which have been analysed based on activity theory, a social theory of learning and different ways of describing knowledge. The research findings show that the activity systems have different knowledge cultures, learning processes and patterns of action. The study participants describe the differences in terms of being in ‘different worlds’. The newly qualified nurses do not always have the practical skills that are sought after and, therefore, cannot always act as independent subjects, but become marginalized non-participants who observe the course of events. Supervision and the rounds are the two most demanding duties during the first year in the profession, since these duties have been practiced to a limited extent during the nurse training placement. The supervisory function appears different to newly qualified male and female nurses. The women in the study feel that it is problematic to be a supervisor for older experienced assistant nurses, in that the assistant nurses do not accept them as supervisors. The men do not indicate this as being a problem, rather emphasizing that the assistant nurses support them in the supervisory function. During the rounds, the nurses must inform the doctor of the state of the patients’ health and care needs. The participants feel that it is difficult to live up to the doctors’ demands ahead of the rounds. In summary, my findings show that the different knowledge cultures in the higher education institution and the healthcare sector make the newly qualified nurses’ learning and knowledge development more difficult. During the first year in the profession, the newly qualified nurses learn to be nurses, and they talk about themselves as nurses in a totally different way than at the start of that year. The changed way of talking about themselves indicates that they have recreated their identity from student nurses to nurses.

This dissertation focuses on continuity and change in a local knowledge culture, the nursing teacher education in Stockholm, during the years between 1958 and 1999, with a strong emphasis on conceptions of knowledge and learning. Concepts of analysis come from Basil Bernstein, Ludwik Fleck, Reinhart Koselleck and gender theory. The study is based on archived documents and interviews with nursing teacher educators. The results show continuity as well as change of the knowledge culture. The first period, 1958-1974, shows continuity in relation to the space of experience. Methodical knowledge is important. The second time period, 1975-1978, is characterized by great changes, starting with a distinct break when prior conceptions and values are discarded. The focus on important, external knowledge of the earlier period is replaced by the conception that the human being and her inner abilities and characteristics are the most important resources for the profession. Conceptions and values are not completely abandoned during the last time period, 1979-1999. Values connected to personality development remain, but new values appear as a consequence of state governance towards research basis. The spirit of time, new co-workers, changed state governance, the ideological characteristics of values as well as a female dominance within the education allow an understanding of the great change in conceptions and values in the middle of the 1970’s.  A stable staff of nursing teacher educators, the specific ideological and gender coded features of the values and a traditional distinctiveness and separation from other teacher education programs allow an understanding of the stability of the personality development element. The male gender coding of the content during the first period could be understood by the influence of physicians on the education, state governance towards education technology and harmony with the space of experience. During the whole of the studied time period, there are female coded conceptions regarding the work of the nursing teacher educators; collectivity, emphasis on practical action and control of - closeness to the student group. / När praktikgrundad kunskap möter högskolan

The aim of this thesis is to create a comprehensive view on questions of development and influence of media on society and related formation and processing of information. This thesis should also enable the reader easier understanding and orientation in this topic. For that reason the thesis is divided into four main parts. The first section describes what is information, and the relation among data, information and knowledge. The second part is devoted to development and influence of information and communication technologies. It describes ways which enabled and enable to deliver information to its recipient and also related changes brought by these technologies. In the next chapter there is desribed what influences our relations within the framework of single nations and how media help to their convergency and linking. And the last part of this thesis includes an analysis of possible use and misuse when affecting broad masses of people.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Deakin University, Victoria, 2005. / Submitted to the School of Education of the Faculty of Education, Deakin University. Degree conferred 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 211-225)