Transfer and Management of Knowledge

In present days more and more academics and practitioners are seeking to understand how organizations manage their knowledge and intellectual capital in order to obtain more effective competitive advantages. Taking into account these issues, and in order to answer the concerns expressed by these professionals, this book looks to help them to understand and implement in their organizations effective transfer and management of knowledge strategies. It looks for ways to understand and perceive how organizational HR, individually and as a team, conceptualize, invent, adapt, define and use this knowledge and intellectual capital. The book has a special interest in research on important issues that transcend the boundaries of single academic subjects and managerial functions.

In a modern world, characterized by high levels of competition and complexity, only those organizations which can manage, efficiently, all their assets can survive. Among these the management of knowledge and intellectual assets is a recent and challenging process. Only with human talent organizations can survive. Conscious of these priorities, this book is of great relevance as it looks for ways to understand and perceive how organizational HR, individually and as a team, conceptualize, invent, adapt, define, transfer and use knowledge and intellectual capital. It is, also, very important and with positive implications to practitioners and academics, as it will contribute to a more effective advance and tool of communication in what concerns the understanding of key issues related to the knowledge management and intellectual capital in competitive organizations management all over the world.

CHAPTER 1. THE IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE HOARDING ON MICRO-FIRM LEARNING NETWORK EXCHANGE 1
Felicity KELLIHER, Elaine AYLWARD and Leana REINL

1.1. Introduction 1

1.2. Micro-firm learning networks and the pursuit of competitive advantage 2

1.3. Building trust in a micro-firm learning network: the role of the knowledge facilitator 3

1.4. The pursuit of shared knowledge across network boundaries 4

1.5. Challenging the knowledge exchange assumption 5

1.6. Knowledge hoarding and its impact on network exchange 6

1.7. Observing knowledge exchange activity in action 7

1.8. Micro-firm learning network: member interaction 9

1.9. Barriers to knowledge exchange 9

1.10. Initial knowledge release 10

1.11. Information flow and the cycle of shared experience 11

1.12. Seeking knowledge beyond the network boundary 13

1.13. The role of the knowledge facilitator 13

1.14. Visualizing the knowledge exchange dynamic in a micro-firm learning network 14

1.15. Conclusion 16

1.16. Bibliography 17

CHAPTER 2. KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS: THE CASE OF ECH 21
Andreas SPICHIGER, Kim Oliver TOKARSKI and Reinhard RIEDL

2.1. Characteristics of knowledge 21

2.2. Knowledge networks and knowledge transfer 27

2.3. Stakeholders in e-government 29

2.4. Goals of the stakeholders 30

2.5. eCH as a PPP 31

2.6. The business case for eCH 33

2.7. Specification artifacts 38

2.8. Standardization in eCH 39

2.9. Success and challenges 42

2.10. Bibliography 45

CHAPTER 3. TALENT DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING CHALLENGES IN CEE: THE CASE OF POLAND 49
Agnieszka SKUZA and Hugh SCULLION

3.1. Introduction 49

3.2. Talent development and learning 53

3.3. Transformational influences on management: from communism to capitalism 57

3.4. Talent development challenges in Polish context 60

3.4.1. Superiority oftechnical competencies over generic competencies 61

3.4.2. Low level of responsibility and accountability 62

3.4.3. Lack of acceptance for success of an individual 63

3.4.4. Low level of innovativeness and willingness to learn 64

3.4.5. Poor assessment skills due to poor evaluation systems 64

3.4.6. Promotions based on "personal connections" 66

3.4.7. Limited participation in the decision-making process 67

3.4.8. Treating high potentials as a threat to one's own position 67

3.4.9. Perceived low value oftraining 68

3.5. Conclusion 69

3.6. Bibliography 70

CHAPTER 4. KNOWLEDGE SHARING: SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND STRUCTURAL ENABLING FACTORS 81
Maria J. SANTOS, Raky WANE and Octavio LOPES

4.1. Introduction 81

4.2. From managing stocks to managing flows: 15 years of KM 83

4.2.1. Knowledge sharing 89

4.3. Overcoming organizational barriers to knowledge sharing 93

4.3.1. Organizational culture 94

4.3.2. Organizational structure 98

4.3.3. Leadership 100

4.3.4. Communication and motivation 105

4.4. Final observations 115

4.5. Bibliography 118

CHAPTER 5. ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING IN PORTUGUESE TECHNOLOGICAL ENTERPRISES 127
Carla FREIRE

5.1. Introduction 127

5.2. Knowledge in organizations 130

5.2.1. The nature oftacit, explicit and dynamic knowledge 131

5.3. Knowledge sharing 135

5.4. Organizational trust and its connection to knowledge 136

5.4.1. The definition ofthe concept of organizational trust 137

5.4.2. The social exchange theory as a theoretical framework 140

5.5. Support practices for innovation and knowledge sharing 141

5.6. Case study, sample, measures and data analysis 143

5.6.1. Measures 144

5.6.2. Results 146

5.6.3. Discussion and conclusions 153

5.7. Management implications 155

5.8. Appendix 156

5.9. Bibliography 157

CHAPTER 6. ORGANIZATIONAL MEMORY: A PRELIMINARY MODEL BASED ON INSIGHTS FROM NEUROSCIENCE 167
Isabel RAMOS and Linda LAVINA

6.1. The problem 169

6.2. Organizational memory: an evolving concept 171

6.3. A perspective on the human memory 175

6.4. Organizationally distributed memory: a new model for organizational memory 177

6.5. Organizational remembering in practice: evidence for the relevance of the proposed model 183

6.6. Organizational memory dysfunctions: evidence from the literature 189

6.7. Conclusions 197

6.8. Bibliography 198

CHAPTER 7. DELVING DOWN TO LEARN UP: KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND HEALTH REFORMS 207
Teresa Carla Trigo OLNElRA and Vitor RAPOSO

7.1. Introduction 207

7.1.1. Rules, norms and logics 210

7.2. Hospitals, complexity and hierarchy 218

7.2.1. Reconciling organizational and operational logics 220

7.3. Realities of change management in the British NHS 223

7.4. Lack of knowledge transfer to and in the Portuguese NHS 226

7.4.1. Senior administrators and doctors as middle managers 229

7.4.2. Nurses in a pediatric hospital 234

7.5. Discussion of findings 237

7.6. Strength and limits of the findings 239

7.7. Implications for further research 240

7.8. Bibliography 241

CHAPTER 8. THE KNOWLEDGE SPIRAL IN COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR STRUCTURING THE COLLECTIVIZED INTELLIGENCE 249
Jefferson David Araujo SALES and Jairo Simiao DORNELAS

8.1. Introduction 249

8.2. Context 253

8.2.1. Scenario 254

8.2.2. Problem 255

8.2.3. Goals 257

8.2.4. Feasibility reasons 258

8.3. Visit to the literature 259

8.3.1. People 260

8.3.2. Groups 261

8.3.3. Communities of practice 263

8.3.4. Smart collectives 264

8.4. Methodological procedure 267

8.4.1. Research design 269

8.4.2. Data collection 270

8.4.3. Data analysis 271

8.5. Pilot test 273

8.5.1. Practical aspect 274

8.5.2. The spiral construction 277

8.6. Final remarks 280

8.7. Bibliography 281

CHAPTER 9. ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING, LEARNING ORGANIZATION AND KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND TRANSMISSION: SOME REFLECTIONS 287
Carolina MACHADO

9.1. Introduction 288

9.2. Organizational learning, learning organization and knowledge management: some concepts 289

9.3. Learning organization and knowledge creation and management: divergent or convergent? 293

9.4. Senge and Nonaka & Takeuchi's theories in learning and knowledge creation and transmission 296

9.4.1. Learning organization theory (Senge, 1997, first edition in 1990) 296

9.4.2. Knowledge creation theory (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) 299

9.5. The role ofIT in the four conversion modes ofthe knowledge-creation model 304

9.6. Final remarks 306

9.7. Bibliography 308

LIST OF AUTHORS 311

INDEX 313

Professor J. Paulo Davim, University of Aveiro, Portugal.