A simplified integrated critical activity-based knowledge audit template

The objective of this article is to show an ontology that can serve as support to represent the results obtained throughout the knowledge audit process in organisations. This paper describes the form to represent what was obtained throughout the audit process and its advantages, as well as the mechanism to reuse the information gathered from it. The design of the proposed ontology, the elements to be presented from knowledge audit, the way in which they can be represented with the help of the ontology, and their potential reuse for the development of applications are shown.

The present article studies the supply chain management of two automobile manufacturers of India and traces the relationship between supply chain and knowledge chain management. The efforts of building up the supply chain are examined under three broad headings, namely, knowledge hierarchy, geographical proximity and cultural reorientation of the supply chain. An enterprise's knowledge domain, defined as critical, subcritical or common market knowledge, is related to various organisational forms. The study deconstructs the technological knowledge of automobile manufacturing through a three-tier distinction of suppliers in terms of technological knowledge input needed in their production. This has determined the extent and intensity of the firm's involvement in developing and nurturing the supplier firms. The success of the supply chain is also explained by the creation of a suppliers' cluster within the geographical proximity of the buyer firm. This has helped closer interaction and building up of trust and commitments between buyer and supplier. Lastly the cultural reorientation of supplier firms has enabled them to become part of the same dynamics.

The authors presented a series of business patterns for Knowledge Audit at EuroPLoP workshops trying to establish a pattern language in the field aimed at Knowledge Management practitioners, for managers of Small and Medium Enterprises, entrepreneurs, students, experts and consultants. As a follow-up of the previous work, in this paper are presented three patterns corresponding to the main tools used in the Knowledge Audit methodology - Knowledge Flows Analysis, Critical Knowledge Function Analysis and Knowledge Diagnostics. The patterns can be applied in knowledge-intensive organizations as they propose guidelines for solving specific problems of linking knowledge and business processes, better usage and provision of knowledge when and where it is needed and taking advantage of existing knowledge flows.

Although much research is conducted in the field of knowledge integration through intraorganizational linkages in dispersed organizational settings, the role experts in these settings has not been carefully investigated. In our study, memory development of experts is analyzed to identify how experts develop expertise through identifying activities they engage in. Through a qualitative study conducted in a multinational organization specialized in energy technology, we found that critical knowledge is developed through personalization activities in the course of practice within projects. We identify four types of practices that describe how experts build memory. Further, we identify a process in which experts learn and develop memory in practice, and introduce the concept of knowledge pollination as a way to overcome local knowledge embeddedness. This study provides better insight into how organizations can deal with local knowledge embeddedness. We formulate implications for theory on memory, knowledge em...

BackgroundSeveral studies have found that immigrants and descendants are less physically active than the majority population, particularly within sports clubs. However, most studies do not provide breakdowns by specific ethnic groups or organisational forms. Therefore, our paper analyses the influence of ethnicity, immigrant status, and sociodemographic and -economic characteristics on the physical activity participation of immigrants and descendants in sports clubs, commercial centres and self-organised activities in Denmark.MethodsData were collected through a survey study conducted in 2020, with responses from approximately 163,000 adults, of whom eight percent had an immigrant or descendant background. We conducted both a descriptive analysis of the dependent and independent variables and multiple logistic regression analyses, one including the entire sample (including citizens of Danish origin) and one including only citizens with an immigrant or descendant background.ResultsOur analysis revealed that immigrants and descendants, particularly those of non-Western origin, were significantly less likely than ethnic Danes to be active within the three organisational forms, with the smallest differences observed regarding participation in commercial centres. The analysis also revealed that besides ethnicity, immigrant status and sociodemographic and -economic characteristics were relevant in explaining differences in physical activity participation.ConclusionOur study makes a significant contribution to the literature on physical activity participation among immigrants and descendants from various backgrounds. By utilising a robust sample size and employing statistical analysis, we offer novel insights into participation patterns that have traditionally been explored more qualitatively. Besides the need to study physical activity participation in different organisational forms among different ethnic backgrounds, we also highlight the importance of considering immigrant status and sociodemographic and -economic characteristics in understanding participation behaviours. These findings imply the importance of adopting a holistic and nuanced approach to promoting physical activity participation among immigrant and descendant populations, considering the multifaceted nature of the barriers and facilitators influencing engagement within different organisational settings.

Purpose – This paper aims at identifying segments among knowledge management (KM) practitioners and analyzes whether performance varies across these segments. The field of KM aims at enhancing performance through knowledge practitioners. However, not all KM implementations have similar outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review is conducted through secondary sources. Based on the themes identified for research, qualitative research through a focus group discussion (FGD) and personal interviews is used to explore the themes. This is used to develop a conceptual KM framework. An instrument is developed which is tested for validity and reliability. The instrument is administered to respondents and 313 responses are obtained. Convenience sampling is used to select the respondents. Further, k-means cluster is used to identify segments among KM practitioners. A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test is conducted to determine if the average scores of KM constructs varied between the three clusters. Further, ANOVA test is also used to analyze whether organizational and financial performance scores vary between the three clusters. Post hoc test is used to determine the extent of variation between cluster pairs. Findings – The results show that the sample comprises three segments which were subsequently labeled as active, partly and passive KM practitioners. It was found that active KM practitioners scored highest on various KM constructs, passive KM practitioners scored the least and partly KM practitioners had scores in between the two. One-way ANOVA results showed that the average scores of KM constructs varied significantly between the three clusters. The results show that a significant difference is found in organizational as well as financial performance between any two cluster pairs. Research limitations/implications – The sample comprises 313 respondents, of which around 65 per cent are from services industry and 67 per cent from private sector. A higher representation from public sector and manufacturing industry would have made the comparison more meaningful. The findings are based on data collected from India, and therefore, the results may not be generalizable to all economies. Practical implications – The three clusters identified from the sample data may help organizations who have initiated the KM process to benchmark themselves with the obtained clusters and identify the trust areas important to their KM initiative. Originality/value – The study builds upon both qualitative methodology through FGD and personal interviews and quantitative methodology through questionnaire and surveys. This comprehensive coverage of KM constructs and identification of respondent clusters is insightful. It also provides researchers useful means to enhance performance through KM within clusters.

Recent transitions from the industrial to knowledge economy suggest an immediate and wholesale retraining scenario so that many organisations can remain at the cutting edge of technology. The dynamics of the job market is creating a challenge for many organisations in recruiting and retaining their core staff. In fact, many companies are in fear of losing critical business knowledge when their employees leave. In this paper, systems dynamics is employed to illustrate the relationship between recruitment, training, skills, and knowledge in a causal loop form. Strategies for human resource management are developed by conducting time-based dynamic analysis. We anticipate that systems dynamics modelling would help organisations to devise efficient human resource management strategies.

The Virtual Organizations (VOs) are presented as a promising way of cooperation between companies. Such a form of organization allows building a favorable environment to small-medium enterprises that wish to have access to new markets and new business opportunities. The main function of a VO is to make the quick configuration of Virtual Enterprises (VEs), which are temporary alliances between VO partners. The objective of these alliances is to exploit specific opportunities sharing skills, costs, risks, infrastructure, research and development. As ali organizations, VOs need to form strategies to establish ways to reach their organizational goals. However, there is a lack of proper methods and processes related to the formation of strategies that adapt to the structure and features of this non-traditional kind of organization. The goal of this work is to propose a reference model of strategies formation in Virtual Organizations. To elaborate the model, various approaches related to strategy formation in traditional organizations are exposed and established their adequacy to the structure and features of VOs. At last, the model proposed is validated in a real VO.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to develop, test and improve a method that draws upon business process improvement literature and combines it with knowledge management approaches for modeling and analyzing knowledge‐intensive business processes.Design/methodology/approachAnalyzing and integrating previous meta models served in knowledge oriented business process researches, a preliminary meta model was developed for modeling knowledge‐intensive business processes. Then an initial version of Proper Arrangement of Knowledge Management Processes (PAKMP) framework was developed according to the knowledge management processes approaches. Third round of interviews withprocess 137members were conducted in order to test applicability and completeness of both preliminary meta model and initial version of PAKMP framework in order to improve them. In addition, a five‐steps analysis method achieved through case study which is based on the application of both final Meta model and PAKMP framework. In fact this five‐steps method was applied in Tehran's Municipality which redounded to improve preliminary meta model and initial version of PAKMP framework and endorsed the applicability of the proposed method in real world.FindingsThis paper has a contribution in enriching the literature related to integrating KM efforts and BPM efforts by presenting a five‐steps analysis method and testing it in a real case. This method considers both KM and business process management points of view.Research limitations/implicationsThe general applicability of the method due to the weak generalization of the single case study is a limitation.Originality/valueThis paper combines the advantages of the business process improvement and knowledge management approaches and suggests a practical method for modeling and analyzing the knowledge management status in knowledge‐intensive business processes. After analysis, managers should put emphasis on improving the arrangement of KM processes for critical knowledge objects which led to improve the performance of knowledge‐intensive business process trough removing KM problems. The paper concludes by suggesting some topics for future research.

Ringing the Bell on the NYSE: Might a Nonprofit Stock Exchange Have Been Efficient?

This study evaluates the consistency and quality of examination and auditing processes applied to the financial statements of public schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The study employed a descriptive research design, using panel data from 2020 and 2021, and quantitative content analysis of 58 public schools' annual reports. The analysis revealed that most schools opted for financial statement examination rather than a full audit, raising concerns about the quality and consistency of auditing practices. The presence of non-qualified auditors and discrepancies between audit outcomes and financial statement quality were also noted. Additionally, some schools did not use recommended audit templates, and there was a lack of awareness and adherence to standardised audit templates. Implications: The findings suggest inadequate auditing and examination processes, emphasising the need for revisions in reporting guidelines, standardisation of audit report forms, and a more robust auditing process to ensure compliance with financial reporting guidelines. This research provides valuable insights into examination and auditing practices in public schools in KZN, shedding light on vital aspects of financial transparency, accountability, and credibility in the education sector. The study's findings and recommendations can inform improvements in auditing and examination practices, ultimately enhancing financial management in public schools.

Hospital-division operations: Metro life flight

The Practitioner's Guide to Data Quality Improvement

Virtualization techniques effectively handle the growing demand for computing, storage, and communication resources in large-scale Cloud Data Centers (CDC). It helps to achieve different resource management objectives like load balancing, online system maintenance, proactive fault tolerance, power management, and resource sharing through Virtual Machine (VM) migration. VM migration is a resource-intensive procedure as VM’s continuously demand appropriate CPU cycles, cache memory, memory capacity, and communication bandwidth. Therefore, this process degrades the performance of running applications and adversely affects efficiency of the data centers, particularly when Service Level Agreements (SLA) and critical business objectives are to be met. Live VM migration is frequently used because it allows the availability of application service, while migration is performed. In this paper, we make an exhaustive survey of the literature on live VM migration and analyze the various proposed mechanisms. We first classify the types of Live VM migration (single, multiple and hybrid). Next, we categorize VM migration techniques based on duplication mechanisms (replication, de-duplication, redundancy, and compression) and awareness of context (dependency, soft page, dirty page, and page fault) and evaluate the various Live VM migration techniques. We discuss various performance metrics like application service downtime, total migration time and amount of data transferred. CPU, memory and storage data is transferred during the process of VM migration and we identify the category of data that needs to be transferred in each case. We present a brief discussion on security threats in live VM migration and categories them in three different classes (control plane, data plane, and migration module). We also explain the security requirements and existing solutions to mitigate possible attacks. Specific gaps are identified and the research challenges in improving the performance of live VM migration are highlighted. The significance of this work is that it presents the background of live VM migration techniques and an in depth review which will be helpful for cloud professionals and researchers to further explore the challenges and provide optimal solutions.

Competencies in the management literature are analyzed from different perspectives. A converging point of the various approaches is the fact that competencies provide a critical context for a unified treatment of business processes and personal development. In other words the achievement of critical business objectives is directly related to knowledge and learning management. The objective of this chapter is to analyze competencies management from a managerial perspective and to develop a set of requirements for new knowledge and learning management systems aiming to capitalize the application of competencies management in to daily business life. The relevant discussion is initiated with the provision of several real world scenarios that summarize the key business challenges of competencies development, management and reuse, in the Education and Health Domains. The resulting list of requirements is used for a critical overview of limitations of current Technology Enhanced learning approaches especially in the context of real businesses. The concluding section of this chapter discusses the new insights that competencies management through SW and TEL approaches bring to well known business problems and reveals several streams of emerging research on the topic.