The aim of this thesis is to point out the critical position of University Continuing Education Units in the context of knowledge economy for their contribution to local development, and to analyse to what extent these units in the case of Turkey serve for this function. For this purpose, first, the nature of knowledge economy and transformations initiated in this process in labour markets and in nature of education are analysed. Next, new understanding of lifelong learning and restructuring process in universities, which are connected with transformation in these two fields, are discussed. Later, position of cities and importance of urban policy for local development within the context of knowledge economy is examined. Consequently, as a product of these intertwined transformations, it is revealed that University Continuing Education Units appear to be key actors for cities for their contribution to local development. Then, based on the facts developed in the theoretical arguments / data of University Continuing Education Units of Turkey and Middle East Technical University Continuing Education Center (METU CEC) scrutinised in order to reveal how far these units in Turkey serve for local development. Finally, findings and conclusions are summarised, and policy proposals are developed for University Continuing Education Units should follow in order to serve local development effectively.

The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems.

<p>The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. Related questions are:&nbsp / What are the views of public service managers/ directors on the benefits that can be reaped from KM practices?&nbsp / What evidence is there that the public service has a culture of sharing information and knowledge? And how are staff members encouraged to internalize and use new knowledge? How are creativity and new ideas encouraged?&nbsp / Are there appropriate technological resources to facilitate effective KM, for example central knowledge repositories and social networking?The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems.<br /> .</p>

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The world economy has over the last few decades rapidly moved from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy, creating a new business reality. Organisations have increasingly realised the importance of innovation as it has become the main sources of their competitive advantage. Innovation networks and communities of practice are two areas of inquiry of interest to organisational management, especially when innovation is an important organisational goal. These two areas are separated by different foci, assumptions and approaches. For this reason they are often seen as opposing approaches to enabling innovation. The thesis argues that whilst innovation networks and communities of practice are different structures, they have complementary roles to play in innovation. It is shown that innovation networks possess the structural attributes, according to three network concepts, necessary to facilitate and support exploration, as well as allow the large-scale diffusion of information and knowledge. In the same sense, communities of practice are shown to possess the structural attributes for exploitation, as well as implementation and small-scale diffusion, to take place which are also required for successful innovation. Subsequently, the argument is that combining the structural elements of innovation networks and communities of practice may allow organisations to move closer to the optimal innovation structure of a particular context, leading to improved innovation performance. Innovation networks and communities of practice exhibit different sensitivities to management which requires management to be more flexible and subtle when trying to facilitate their creation and development. Creating an optimal innovation structure, just as innovation networks and communities of practice individually, requires organisations to create an enabling context for them to thrive in. Consequently, management is required to exhibit a dual focus on network and community facilitation and support in order to improve innovation. The practical question then becomes to what extent management interventions in aid of the one structure are counter-productive for the other. The challenge is to direct networks in order to gain access to novel knowledge as well as diffuse it throughout the network, whilst at the same time enabling communities to develop in aid of proper exploitation, small-scale diffusion and implementation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die wêreldekonomie het oor die laaste paar dekades vinnig van 'n industrieel geörienteerde na 'n kennis geörienteerde ekonomie verander en gevolglik 'n nuwe besigheidsomgewing vir organisasies geskep. Organisasies het toenemend die belangrikheid van innovasie besef soos innovasie die hoof bron van 'n organisasie se kompeterende voordeel geword het. Innovasienetwerke en praktykgemeenskappe is twee areas van ondersoek wat van belang is vir organisatoriese bestuur, veral wanneer innovasie 'n belangrike organisatoriese doelwit is. Die twee velde verskil op grond van hul uiteenlopende fokuspunte, aannames en benaderings. Gevolglik word hul as teenstrydige benaderings tot innovasie beskou. Die tesis beweer dat alhoewel innovasienet-werke en praktykgemeenskappe verskillende strukture is, hul komplementêre rolle in innovasie vervul. Dit word gestel dat innovasienetwerke oor die nodige strukturele eienskappe beskik, op grond van drie netwerkkonsepte, om die ondersoek vir nuwe kennis te fasiliteer en ondersteun asook om die grootskaalse verspreiding van inligting en kennis aan te moedig. Terselfdertyd word geargumenteer dat praktykgemeenskappe oor die nodige strukturele eienskappe beskik om ontginning van bestaan-de kennis te bevorder, asook om die implementering en kleinskaalse verspreiding van nuwe kennis aan te moedig wat ook benodig word om die proses van innovasie te voltooi. Gevolglik word daar geargumenteer dat die strukturele kombinering van innovasienetwerke en praktykgemeenskappe organisasies kan help om nader aan 'n optimale innovasiestruktuur in elke spesifieke konteks te beweeg, wat innovasieprestasie moontlik sal laat verbeter. Innovasienetwerke en praktykgemeen-skappe toon verskillende sensitiwiteite tot bestuursingrype wat bestuurders dwing om meer buigsaam/veelsydig en subtiel op te tree wanneer hul die ontwikkeling van dié strukture probeer fasiliteer. Die ontwikkeling van 'n optimale innovasiestruktuur benodig, nes innovasienetwerke en praktykgemeenskappe, 'n omgewing wat dit in staat sal stel om daarin te floreer. Gevolglik benodig bestuurders 'n gesamentlike fokus op beide networke en gemeenskapsfasilitering en ondersteuning om innovasie in hul organisasies te bevorder. Die praktiese vraag is dan tot watter mate bestuursingrype vir een tipe struktuur, teenproduktief is vir die ander een. Die uitdaging is om netwerke aan te moedig om toegang tot nuwe kennis te verkry asook om dit verder deur die netwerk te versprei, terwyl praktykgemeenskappe gesamentlik aangemoedig word om bestaande kennis te ontgin, te implimenteer en te versprei.

The main aim of this work is to analyze human resource management and knowledge economy in a selected company and to propose steps to improve the situation. I divided the thesis into two parts. In the first part I concentrated on theory. After the study of technical literature I described the basic theoretical concepts regarding human resource management and knowledge economy. I then conducted a questionnaire survey. I used a questionnaire VSM 1994 and 2013 by Geert Hofstede for determining the desirable cultural dimensions. I used TBSD to identify the most shared words in the chosen company. Finally there were proposed some steps to improve the situation.

The aim of the thesis was the analysis of motivation and stimulation of the employees, focused on education and management of human resources in chosen companies. The first step was the studying of literature, related to motivation and stimulation in human resources management and their education in current and future knowledge economy. The selection of the companies, which were analyzed, followed. Using anonymous questionnaire, the survey was made in both companies among the employees and the information obtained from the questionnaires were completed by the addition of information from undirected interviews. The employees were divided in two categories, the worker and the administrative worker. The questionnaire contained a total of 31 questions that were chosen mostly closed, semi-open less often. They included questions related to motivation, stimulation and education. The results were displayed, using charts and graphs, also the discussion concerning the given topic was added. All relevant facts were summarized in conclusion of the thesis and the suggestions for practical use and improving of the situation in companies were made.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyze corporate culture in a selected organization with a proposal for a change in corporate culture leading to the desired state of cultural dimensions of the knowledge economy. This thesis is divided into two main parts - theoretical and practical. The first part consists of a literary research, which was developed on the basis of the literature related to this issue, including corporate culture and related concepts. In the second part, an analysis of the given issue was carried out. Required information was obtained using the VSM 94 & 2013 questionnaire by Geert Hofstede and the TBSD test. For better quality research, unstructured interviews with the staff took place, as well as an observation, which contributed to the understanding of the organization's entire structure. In the end, changes were proposed in order to improve the situation in the organization and shift it further toward the desired knowledge economy.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-08-24T19:24:23Z No. of bitstreams: 1 inaiaracosersobrinho.pdf: 1426545 bytes, checksum: 55114c9f9b21705eba3b5315ee786256 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-08-25T12:04:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 inaiaracosersobrinho.pdf: 1426545 bytes, checksum: 55114c9f9b21705eba3b5315ee786256 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-25T12:04:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 inaiaracosersobrinho.pdf: 1426545 bytes, checksum: 55114c9f9b21705eba3b5315ee786256 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-07-11 / Devido à natureza evolucionária do sistema econômico, as mudanças de paradigmas induzem aos padrões de crescimento chamados de ondas longas. Essas mudanças, que ocorrem em média a cada 50 anos, são ocasionadas pela inserção de inovações disruptivas que revolucionam incessantemente a estrutura econômica, destruindo o antigo e criando novos elementos, não apenas a nível econômico, mas institucional, organizacional e social. Na década de 90, com o desenvolvimento da microeletrônica e das tecnologias de comunicações, emergiu o paradigma da tecnologia da informação, caracterizado pela intensidade de informação que, transformada em conhecimento e inovação, desempenha um papel crucial para desenvolvimento. Entretanto, para que isso ocorra, é necessário que os países construam arranjos institucionais apropriados. Com isso, surge o modelo de sistemas de inovação da Tríplice Hélice. Este modelo compreende a inovação e o progresso técnico, numa Economia do Conhecimento, como o resultado de um conjunto complexo de relações entre universidade-empresa-governo, atores diretamente envolvidos na produção, distribuição e aplicação do conhecimento. Neste contexto, o presente estudo teve o objetivo de identificar o impacto da produção de conhecimento e das políticas públicas para a produção de depósitos de patentes dos pesquisadores pertencentes ao domínio científico Ciências da Vida e da Saúde, das universidades federais mineiras. A análise considerou o período de 1995 a 2016. Para isso, foram utilizadas as técnicas de análise exploratória dos dados e de análise em painel. Os resultados mostraram que fatores educacionais (orientações em pós-graduação), econômicos (produtos tecnológicos e prestação de serviços tecnológicos) e políticos (arcabouço legal, recursos financeiros e políticas de estímulo) impactaram a produção de depósitos de patentes dos pesquisadores pertencentes ao domínio científico Ciências da Vida e da Saúde das universidades federais mineiras. A experiência acadêmica e o conhecimento científico, principal insumo para gerar inovação, não foram determinantes para a produção de depósitos de patente. Já os fatores políticos apresentaram um forte impacto, tanto na produção de conhecimento quanto nos depósitos de patente. Isso demonstra os esforços do Governo para tentar diminuir o hiato tecnológico. / Due to the evolutionary nature of the economic system, paradigm shifts induce the growth patterns called long waves. These changes, which occur on average every 50 years, are brought about by the insertion of disruptive innovations that unceasingly revolutionize the economic structure, destroying the old and creating new elements, not only at an economic but institutional, organizational and social level. In the 1990s, with the development of microelectronics and communications technologies, the paradigm of information technology emerged, characterized by the intensity of information that, transformed into knowledge and innovation, plays a crucial role in development. However, to trigger this process, countries need to build appropriate institutional arrangements. Appears, with it, the model of systems of innovation of the Triple Helix. This model comprises innovation and technical progress in a Knowledge Economy as the result of a complex set of relations between university-business-government. Being these the actors that are directly involved in the production, distribution, and application of knowledge. In this context, the present study aimed to identify the impact of the production of knowledge and public policies to produce patent deposits of researchers from the scientific field of Life Sciences and Health, from the federal universities of Minas Gerais. The analysis considered the period from 1995 to 2016. For this, the techniques of exploratory data analysis and panel data analysis were used. The results showed that educational factors (post-graduation orientations), economic (technological products and technological services provision) and political (legal framework, financial resources, and stimulus policies) impact the production of patent deposits of researchers belonging to the scientific domain Life Sciences and Health of the federal universities of Minas Gerais. Academic experience and scientific knowledge, the main input to generate innovation, were not decisive to produce patent deposits. On the other hand, the political factors had a strong impact, both in the production of knowledge and in patent deposits. This demonstrates the efforts of the Government to try to reduce the technology gap.

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems. / South Africa

This thesis reports on an exploratory study to see to what extent an instrument could be developed to measure the strategically innovative environment of life assurance organisations in Southern Africa. This instrument was applied to a number of life assurance organisations in Southern Africa and the results plotted on a four quadrant matrix, developed for this study, to illustrate to what extent certain variables could contribute in establishing a strategically innovative environment. The main contribution of this study is to explain the interaction between the knowledge economy, intellectual capital, the corporate curriculum, learning theory and strategic innovation. This study argues that the interaction between these components is key in developing human capital which in turn is an important component of strategic innovation. Furthermore, the instrument developed for this study can be used to evaluate other organisations, thus ultimately assisting them in becoming strategically innovative as well. It was found that life assurance organisations in Southern Africa could be regarded as moderately strategically innovative. The degree of strategic innovation varies according to the presence and integration of certain variables set out for the organisation. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Information Science / unrestricted