In this chapter our aim was to highlight some important aspects we should consider before developing or restructuring an organization. By looking at these issues, you can develop your own ...organization theory for specific situations. It might be a good idea to do this together with an expert in the field, perhaps someone who has dealt with similar situations in the past, or a consultant with the appropriate experience.
Knowledge Management in Small Firms Panyasorn, Jessada; Panteli, Niki; Powell, Philip
Information Systems – Creativity and Innovation in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Book Chapter
Odprti dostop
This paper explores knowledge management in small and medium-sized firms (SMEs). It investigates the use of Lotus Notes in SMEs of a developing country as a counterpoint to the large firm, developed ...country emphasis of existing research. It develops taxonomy of Lotus Notes use within the context of different knowledge management processes; notably communicating, co-ordinating and collaborating. The study employs an interpretive approach using three case studies. The key findings suggest that publishing, searching, sharing and retrieving are the user modes for enabling sharing and storing information. Evidence of knowledge creation is found at the departmental level but not at the organizational level. Further, small firms may explore more groupware potential than large organizations and this reflects their different context. Finally, implications for further research are identified.
Knowledge management is considered to be the most critical step for developing innovation processes and reaching sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, the systematic handling ...of knowledge in many organisations is far from being complete. In particular, for large organisations the competitive capability becomes more dependent on the efficient intra-organisational sharing of resources—especially knowledge. The aim of the article is to study knowledge sharing in large organisations as linked with the transaction cost theory. Therefore, we start with defining the term “knowledge” and classifying the process of “knowledge sharing”. Having transferred the transaction cost theory into intra-organisational knowledge sharing, we will build up a comprehensive theoretical construct of knowledge sharing in large organisations from the transaction cost theory perspective.
Software companies are increasingly adopting DevOps and continuous software engineering practices to support short feedback loops, gain better control and visibility over deployments, and decrease ...the need for manual work with the help of automated processes. While adopting DevOps practices can lead to various benefits, companies also face many kinds of challenges in the transition. This short paper presents the results of a case study conducted in a large Danish software service house about their experiences of transitioning towards DevOps. We got 30 completed survey responses and interviewed four persons in software engineering related roles. We present the current state of the company with challenges and suggestions to improvement. To reach DevOps, the company will need a major cultural change. However, the respondents were positive that the adoption of continuous software engineering practices would mitigate some of their prevailing challenges.
According to the crucial importance of innovation for modern economies, the role of graduates regarding innovation appears to be a major topic when their performances in the labour market at stake. ...Five main questions are addressed in this chapter: (1) What does innovation mean? (2) Which organisations are likely to be more innovative? (3) What role do Higher Education graduates play regarding innovation? (4) Are they equipped to do develop innovation? (5) Which are the occupations more related to innovation, and are innovative activities rewarded? The results presented in this chapter confirm that higher education graduates are crucial actors in the innovation process. The jobs of innovative graduates show a number of specific characteristics: a high level of autonomy, more leeway to define their own goals and to perform their tasks. A paradox that emerged is the following: although innovation is more strongly developed in large organisations, small organisations offer graduates more opportunities to play a role in introducing innovations. When earnings are considered, innovative activities appear to be rewarded, in the private sector. That confirms the impression that innovation is recognised as valuable by organisations.
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