What operational factors can explain the performance differences between manufacturing firms? Scholars have produced a significant volume of research that examines the linkages between operational factors (resources and practices) and firm performance. There is agreement that organizational capabilities mediate the relationship between operational factors and firm performance. However, due to the numerous and sometimes contradictory definitions of organizational capabilities in the literature and because organizational capabilities includes non-operational factors, it has been suggested that operational capabilities, as a sub construct of organizational capabilities, is more appropriate for establishing an empirical relationship between operational factors and firm performance. Scholars have argued that process improvement practices facilitate the development of operational capabilities, which can consequently lead to improved firm performance. Other scholars have argued that process improvement practices facilitate organizational knowledge creation, which can also influence firm performance. We integrate these two theoretical perspectives into a single conceptual model that better explains the relationship between knowledge-creating practices and firm operational performance. Specifically, we argue that knowledge-creating practices play a significant role in developing a firm’s operational capabilities, which in turn, influence firm operational performance. This research investigates the existence of a relationship between organizational knowledge creation and firm operational performance that is mediated by operational capabilities.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The thesis examines the notion of facilitative leadership from the perspective of different views of organizational knowledge. Facilitative leadership is a leadership style that is often referred to in the context of knowledge work by practitioners and increasingly appears in organization and management literature. Despite the regularity with which the notion of facilitative leadership is invoked, there has been a lack of critical scrutiny. It is not clear from the current literature what facilitative leadership is supposed to do and how it is supposed to accomplish it. The thesis addresses this lack of reflection by focusing on the object of facilitation in the view of practitioners. This is done by reviewing the literature on leadership in general and facilitative leadership in particular. It is argued that the interest in facilitation is linked to the changing nature of work that requires the enabling of knowledge dynamics in organizations. It is posited that the way in which organizational knowledge is understood will influence what is seen as the object of facilitation. The pluralist epistemology that underpins the mainstream knowledge management literature is reviewed and particular attention is paid to the difference between a view of knowledge as possession and as practice. It is expected that different views of organizational knowledge will not only inform different knowledge management strategies, but also different forms of facilitative leadership. This insight is then tested, by interviewing practitioners that subscribe to a facilitative leadership style. This enquiry comes in the form of a two-phased interview: the first phase involving a set of structured questions aimed at determining the knowledge view held and the second phase consisting of a range of open-ended questions intended to reveal the understanding of facilitation. After the initial hypothesis is tweaked in light of empirical findings, a conclusion is made that practitioners are more nuanced in their understanding of knowledge than the literature gives them credit for. Although empirical results confirm a relationship between knowledge views held and the understanding of facilitative leadership, this link is not as strong as was initially expected. This may is explained by the fact that, in the coalface, most practitioners cannot actually afford to be rigorous and meticulous about exactly how they define organisational knowledge. Also, practitioners all face certain unique constraints and contextual issues which influence their ability and freedom to subscribe to a certain view of knowledge management and facilitation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek fasiliterende leierskap vanuit twee perspektiewe op organisatoriese kennis. Fasiliterende leierskap is 'n leierskapstyl wat dikwels vanuit ‘n kennis-konteks na verwys word en die term verskyn toenemend in organisatoriese- en bestuursliteratuur. Ten spyte van die feit dat die term gebruik word, is daar 'n gebrek aan kritiese ondersoek na die aard van fasiliterende leierskap. In bestuursliteratuur word die presiese rol van fasiliterende leierskap, asook hoe hierdie rol vervul moet word, nie duidelik uiteengesit nie. Die tesis spreek hierdie gebrek aan deur die fokus van fasilitering, vanuit die praktisynsoogpunt, te bekyk. Dit word gedoen deur leierskapsliteratuur te hersien en spesifiek te kyk na wat bedoel word met fasiliterende leierskap en die konnotasies daarvan. Daar word geargumenteer dat die toenemende belangstelling in fasilitering gekoppel is aan die veranderde aard van werk in die kennis-era. Hierdie verandering het tot gevolg dat organisaies nou die bevordering van kennis-dinamika as prioriteit ag. Die tesis argumenteer dat die fokus van fasilitering bepaal word deur die manier waarop organisatoriese kennis gekonsepsualiseer word. Daar word ondersoek ingestel na die pluralistiese epistemologie, wat grootendeels onderliggend is aan meeste kennisbestuursliteratuur, met ‘n spesifieke fokus op die verskil tussen kennis as ‘n besitting en kennis as‘n praktyk. Die hipotese is dat verskillende sienings van organisatoriese kennis nie net verskillende kennisbestuurstrategieë tot gevolg sal hê nie, maar ook verskillende vorme van fasiliterende leierskap. Hierdie insig word dan getoets deur onderhoude te voer met praktisyne wat hulself beskryf as fasiliterende leiers. Die ondersoek bestaan uit 'n twee-fase onderhoud: die eerste fase behels 'n stel gestruktureerde vrae wat daarop gemik is om die kennis-siening te bepaal en die tweede fase bestaan uit 'n stel oop vrae wat probeer om die begrip van fasilitering te ontbloot. Nadat die aanvanklike hipotese hersien is in die lig van empiriese bevindinge, word die gevolgtrekking gemaak dat praktisyne meer genuanseerd is in hul begrip van kennis as wat die literatuur voorstel. Hoewel die empiriese resultate bevestig dat daar ‘n verhouding is tussen die siening van kennis en die manier waarop fasiliterende leierskap verstaan word, is hierdie verhouding nie so sterk soos wat aanvanklik verwag is nie. Dit kan verklaar word deur te verwys na die feit dat, in realiteit, meeste praktisyne nie kan bekostig om streng en nougeset te wees oor die wyse waarop hul organisatoriese kennis definieer nie. Daar word ten slotte aangevoer dat alle praktisyne unieke beperkinge en omstandighede het wat hul vermoë en vryheid om 'n bepaalde siening in te neem beïnvloed.

Submitted by Fabiany Feitosa (fabiany.sousa@ufba.br) on 2016-03-15T22:34:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline Machado Cruz.pdf: 1625570 bytes, checksum: 5052a0bb6efe24e97780aa632c034d06 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Tatiana Lima (tatianasl@ufba.br) on 2016-03-22T21:25:52Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline Machado Cruz.pdf: 1625570 bytes, checksum: 5052a0bb6efe24e97780aa632c034d06 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-22T21:25:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline Machado Cruz.pdf: 1625570 bytes, checksum: 5052a0bb6efe24e97780aa632c034d06 (MD5) / Este trabalho investiga os fatores condicionantes à implantação de práticas de Gestão do Conhecimento (GC) no ambiente organizacional do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia da Bahia - Campus Porto Seguro (IFBA-PS). Neste contexto objetivou-se identificar e analisar os elementos facilitadores, os principais obstáculos e os elementos norteadores ao processo de GC. A estratégia metodológica utilizada foi o estudo de caso, com enfoque quali-quantitativo, utilizando as dimensões organizacional, humana e externa como referência de pesquisa. Os resultados confirmaram os pressupostos de que o IFBA-PS precisa repensar as políticas de gestão, redefinir os fundamentos do uso das tecnologias e da relação da instituição com a comunidade, assim como melhorar a comunicação, criar processos de aprendizagem e valorizar os ativos do conhecimento, de forma a criar um contexto organizacional que contemple as práticas de GC, uma vez que o conhecimento constitui-se um fator essencial ao desenvolvimento organizacional. Como resultado, identificou-se que a dimensão organizacional é a que apresenta condições mais facilitadoras, enquanto que as dimensões humana e externa são as mais críticas, necessitando uma maior atenção para o estabelecimento de uma cultura organizacional favorável à criação, ao uso e ao compartilhamento do conhecimento / ABSTRACT This research investigates the determinants factors of the Knowledge Management (KM) implementation practices in the organizational environment of the Bahia Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology - Campus Porto Seguro (IFBA-PS). In this context, it was aim ato identifying and analyzing the enablers aspects, the main obstacles and the guiding elements in the KM process. The adopted research strategy was the case study, with qualitative and quantitative approach, using the organizational, human and external dimensions as a reference analysis. The results confirmed the assumptions that the IFBA-PS needs to rethink management policies, redefine the fundamentals of technology use and the relationship between the institution and the community, as well as improving communication, creating learning processes and valuing knowledge assets, to create an organizational framework that provides KM practices, since that knowledge constitutes a key factor to organizational development. As a result, it was identified that the organizational dimension is the one that provides more facilitating conditions, while the human and external dimensions are the most criticals, requiring greater attention to establishing an organizational culture that supports the creation, use and knowledge sharing.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-08T14:53:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1714049 bytes, checksum: d360e53f16124823002b21f00844fae6 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-12-21 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / There are many evidences that knowledge has become an economical resource as a result from the new market logic demands, associated to competitiveness, technological development and productivity administration concepts. In this context, the advanced manufacture systems have appeared, based on organizational concepts of maximum productivity administration, in which knowledge became the main productivity factor. Organizational productivity has grown along with development, and one of the principal challenges brought by that new approach was the creation of measuring tools that enable to follow-up and understand the complex events that lead to the evolution of productive knowledge interface. Thus being, this work concerns to distributing the productivity measurement processes at industrial sections in the city of João Pessoa-PB, under the evaluation perspective of organizational knowledge retained in those companies. So as to bring forth this discussion, the literature review regarded theoretical-conceptual principles of general knowledge, organizational knowledge theory and productivity metrics. The adopted strategy for the research was a case study, accomplished in three companies, with data collected through interviews. Data analysis and interpretation happened in three moments: the individual and collective analysis of the interviews, observations in the companies and crossed analysis of the data. The attainment of the objectives prescribed in the work showed the impossibility of measuring knowledge, once, despite the companies being able to accumulate knowledge, they are unable to measure or systematize it, reaching the conclusion that measurement of the productivity processes in the companies don't consider the variable " knowledge " in the determination of their metrics on productivity. / São várias as evidências que o conhecimento se tornou um recurso econômico resultante das exigências da nova lógica de mercado, associada à competitividade, ao desenvolvimento tecnológico e à concepção de gestão da produtividade. Neste contexto, surgem os sistemas avançados de manufatura, fundamentados nos princípios de maximização da produtividade organizacional, onde o conhecimento está se tornando o principal fator de produção. A produtividade organizacional evolui dependente do desenvolvimento e da aplicação desses conhecimentos, sendo um dos principais desafios nessa nova abordagem a criação de ferramentas de mensuração que permitam acompanhar e entender os eventos complexos que envolvem a interface conhecimento/produtividade. Desse modo, este trabalho se preocupou em discutir os processos de medição da produtividade nos setores industriais da grande João Pessoa PB, na perspectiva de avaliação do conhecimento organizacional retido nestas empresas. Para melhor fundamentar esta discussão, analisou-se a literatura com base nas concepções teórico-conceituais das teorias do conhecimento geral, teoria do conhecimento organizacional, teoria da produtividade e métricas. A estratégia de pesquisa adotada foi o estudo de casos, realizados em três empresas, tendo a entrevista como coleta de dados. A análise e interpretação desses dados ocorreram em três momentos: a análise individual das entrevistas, observações nas empresas e análise cruzada dos dados. A consecução dos objetivos prescritos no trabalho apresentou como resultado a impossibilidade de mensuração do conhecimento, pois apesar de as empresas serem acumuladoras destes, não mensuram nem sistematizam esse conhecimento, chegando-se à conclusão de que os processos de medição da produtividade nas empresas não consideram a variável conhecimento na determinação de seu valor produmétrico.

The IT industry’s main capital is not built into plants, buildings or machines, instead the core assetsof this industry is the knowledge of its employees. Within this knowledge intensive industry,organizational learning and efficient knowledge management becomes key for development,productivity and competitive advantage.Moreover, there is a current trend within IT organizations, away from traditional projectmanagement methods towards projects managed agile. One major difference between agile projectmanagement and traditional project management is the type of knowledge that is generated. Dueto this, different strategies and for knowledge management is required in order to achieveorganizational learning. However, there are no established recommendations how this is done inan organization managing projects both traditional and agile. Therefore, this study investigatedwhat strategies and methods to apply to enhance organizational knowledge in a large ITorganization - managing projects using both agile and traditional methods.This has been done by conducting a case study at Scania IT, a large IT company managing projectusing both traditional and agile project management methods. Moreover, the findings from thecase study were triangulated using a benchmark study and expert interviews.This investigation concludes that a personalization strategy is preferably applied in large ITorganizations managing projects using both agile and traditional methods. Furthermore, the studyshows that intra-project learning is the basis from which organizational knowledge can be formed.For organizations using both traditional and agile project management methods, the agile approachof continuous reflections should be adopted in all projects - regardless of project managementmethod - to enhance intra-project knowledge. Furthermore, to extrapolate project knowledge toorganizational knowledge, focus should be put on networks and knowledge carriers. Efficientnetworks will promote knowledge sharing between project while knowledge carriers enableorganizational knowledge to be formed.

Since the management of experiences is an essential activity in the military context, this study aimed to conduct an analysis on the lessons learned process carried out by air combat units of the Swedish Air Force, based on the organizational knowledge creation theory. Through an action research approach, a quantitative investigation evaluated and categorized a set of 36 indicators for monitoring modes related to the creation of new knowledge within the air fighter divisions. These indicators were measured in a survey in which the findings, obtained from 87 officers and civilian employees of the six JAS39 divisions, showed an elevated perception of the dimensions based on the individual and the tasks oriented to the sharing of implicit knowledge. Conversely, the dimensions grounded on the exchange of explicit knowledge at the organizational level and on the use of technology disclosed the lower scores in the survey.  In addition, the study found similarities in the perception of the respondents when the empirical material was analyzed in four hypotheses outlined in the investigation. These propositions were designed to provide comparisons among the six JAS39 divisions, as well as seek for correspondences between the length of service in the SwAF of the respondents of the survey and their perception of the lessons learned process.

This paper analyzes the diffusion of internet-based distance education technology (NETDE) among the US associate colleges. The study finds that an institution with experience in using an earlier generation distance education technology is more likely to adopt NETDE than an institution without such an experience. The finding supports the view of Cohen and Levinthal (1990) that an organization's 'absorptive capability' plays a significant role in its innovative activities. Institution size also facilitates the adoption of NETDE. We relate this size effect to market power because the size effect is partly caused by customer switching costs present in the NETDE market. Finally, we find that, among public institutions, the presence of close competitors motivates an institution to adopt NETDE earlier.

Purpose The purpose of this case study is to understand how inter-organizational knowledge management is conducted in an economic association by analysing how different actor representatives perceive the inter-organizational collaboration. Design/methodology/approach The method of this study is qualitative, with a single case study of an economic association in Dalarna, Sweden. The interviews were of semi-structured character. A total of nine respondents were interviewed; four respondents from private member organizations, three respondents from public member organizations and two respondents employed by the economic association. Findings and conclusion Six themes were found that together answers the purpose of this study. These themes are personalization, codification, collaboration, conditions, capabilities and challenges. The personalization strategy from the knowledge management framework by Hansen et al (1999) is suggested to be the main strategy in the case of the economic association, while the codification strategy is the supporting strategy working in relation to each other. In order to use those strategies in this interorganizational context, four other themes are added in a model created by the authors of this study. The four additional themes need to be taken in consideration and as the theme capabilities points out; the inter-organizational collaboration gives not only challenges, but also opportunities for the participating organizations. Furthermore, the conditions and the reasons for collaborating can be used for improving the structure of an inter-organizational collaboration. Practical Information A Swedish economic association can be described as a legal entity which involves a minimum of three partners, with a common interest and where all members of the economic association are required to participate in the activities of the economic association. Originality/Value This study contributes to the field of inter-organizational knowledge management by providing insight from a Swedish economic association perspective. There is an apparent gap pointed out between theory driven and practical driven research, where this single case study aims to contribute to the practical field of applying inter-organizational knowledge management perspective into a real case scenario. The case is particularly interesting to study since there are 33 organizations involved in knowledge management, with knowledge bases of both private and public sectors, small- and middlesized organizations and from different branches.

Diversos estudos exploram temas relacionados ao monitoramento do ambiente com o intuito de auxiliar empresas a se protegerem contra ameaças e a aproveitarem oportunidades provenientes do ambiente externo. Outros pesquisadores se dedicaram aos tópicos relacionados à gestão do conhecimento, colocando o conhecimento como elemento central para o desenvolvimento e o sucesso empresarial. Contudo, identificaram-se poucos estudos que explorem as temáticas de monitoramento do ambiente e gestão do conhecimento em conjunto. Com o propósito de contribuir para o preenchimento desta lacuna, o presente estudo investiga o desenvolvimento da capacidade absortiva em processos de exploração de sinais fracos, sob a perspectiva da criação do conhecimento organizacional. Para tal investigação se utilizou método qualitativo e exploratório; tendo como técnicas de coleta de dados entrevistas semiestruturadas e análise de conteúdo para exploração dos mesmos. Constatou-se que o desempenho do processo de Inteligência pode contribuir para o desenvolvimento da capacidade absortiva, além de propiciar a criação, expansão e renovação de conhecimentos individuais e organizacionais. Observou-se, também, que a realização das atividades de Inteligência incentiva a ação e influencia na tomada de decisão de colaboradores e gestores. Os profissionais ao se sentirem melhor informados sobre oportunidades e ameaças provenientes do ambiente externo à organização passam a refletir e se responsabilizar mais por ações e decisões. / Many studies explore topics related to the environmental scanning process in order to assist companies with protecting themselves against threats and seizing opportunities that arise from external environments. Furthermore, a number of researchers have focused broadly and deeply on topics related to knowledge management, placing knowledge as a central resource to a business’s development and success. Nevertheless, there are few studies that combine the themes of environmental scanning and knowledge management. Aiming contribute to fill this gap, this study investigates the absorptive capacity developing in weak signals’ exploration process through the organization knowledge creation’ perspectives. The employed method to this qualitative and explorative research will be interviews by means of techniques for collecting data; and a content analysis for an exploitation of these data. It was found that the Intelligence process performance contributes to the development of absorptive capacity. Futhermore, the practice of Intelligence process facilitates the creation, expansion and renewal of individual and organizational knowledge. It was also observed that the realization of intelligence activities encourages action and influence in employees and managers decision making. Professionals who feel better informed about opportunities and threats from the external environment in regards to the organization start to further reflect and be more accountable for actions and decisions.

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