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This paper discusses the contrast in approach to agriculture knowledge management (AKM) empirical research between mainstream Knowledge Management (KM) scholars and scholars from non-KM fields, and the implications of this contrast to the development of AKM scholarship. The paper uses a systematic literature review, gathering papers from both mainstream KM literature and non-KM literature. A total of 44 peer-reviewed publications were analysed. Of these, 12 publications were from the mainstream KM literature while 32 publications were from the wider non-KM literature but had an agriculture knowledge management focus. While KM scholars predominantly conducted AKM research in structured, organized settings such as agriculture organisations and agri-business enterprises, scholars from non-KM fields, mostly agriculture, conducted AKM research in less formal settings, engaging farmers and local communities in research and exploring the indigenous knowledge that arises out of such communities. This contrast shows a disconnect in the studies conducted by the two groups of scholars. The disconnect is also reflected in the fact that the scholars from the different backgrounds do not cite one another and hence AKM literature does not have any coherent development. This paper offers an overall picture of the existing knowledge of AKM, and provides pointers for future AKM research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses how three organisations with innovative management models support the creation and work of knowledge communities. In the current unstable environment, knowledge, the ability to acquire it, create it and share it becomes one of the most critical aspects of the success of any organisation. Even though organisations may not be consciously aware of this, some adopt specific innovative management models that support their work with knowledge. The management model is how an organisation is managed, e.g. how managerial activities are executed, interlinked and organised into the systemic approach. Traditionally, management models were based on hierarchies and clear rules concerning managerial functions (planning, deciding, organising, leadership and controlling). Innovative management models are flatter; employees are empowered to decide and set objectives; control is decentralised. Some innovative management models are self-managing and look unusual, even crazy, as they deny our expectations about how organisations should be managed. Innovative management models help improve knowledge flow and sharing in an organisation. The paper provides examples of organisations whose unusual management models go even further and support or are intended to support the creation and work of knowledge communities. Knowledge communities usually benefit organisations by providing an environment where employees extensively interact, share and create knowledge. They are the silos of new knowledge, inventions and innovations. Organisations with unusual management models use different managerial tools and methods to support knowledge communities. Some organisations are successful, and some fail. In the paper, we show examples of both groups of organisations and explain why some management models work and support knowledge communities, and others do not. The paper uses secondary data about organisations available in the theoretical and managerial literature on these organisations and information from their web pages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the primary tasks of organisations is to find a way to use the knowledge they have at their disposal. From this perspective, organisations have three critical tasks; to manage their employees' personal knowledge, make personal knowledge of employees available for their colleagues, and find how to use the knowledge embedded in artefacts and procedures. Coordination and organising are managerial activities through which organisations orchestrate their employees' work and knowledge and balance reliability and adaptability. Coordination is a horizontal process of orchestration of individual activities and knowledge by rules, guidelines, normative or spontaneous emergent activities of individuals and organising is a vertical process through which organisations make their decisions. This paper aims to discuss how different arrangements of coordination and organising influence work with knowledge. The paper explains the potential, advantages and disadvantages of different arrangements of coordination and organising for work with knowledge and provides examples of organisations that use these arrangements in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to investigate the influence of knowledge and experience in a specific domain on the formation of opinions regarding a particular issue. The research focused on cryptocurrencies, chosen due to their relatively new and unexplored nature in terms of opinion formation. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 778 university students, which were then analyzed using the SmartPLS package. The survey was conducted in Poland, a country where cryptocurrencies are treated relatively neutrally, not being banned but also not widely accepted as a means of payment. The main research question addressed whether previously acquired knowledge and experience with cryptocurrencies impact opinion formation. Four latent variables were examined: Experience, Perceived Benefits, Perceived Disadvantages, and Opinion Formation. The findings reveal that Experience has the strongest influence on Opinion Formation, followed by Perceived Benefits, which has a positive effect, and Perceived Disadvantages, which has a negative effect. Therefore, the hypotheses were supported, indicating a positive association between Perceived Benefits and Opinion Formation (H1), as well as between respondents' Experience with cryptocurrencies and Opinion Formation (H3). Additionally, H2 was supported, indicating a negative association between Perceived Disadvantages and Opinion Formation. Our research results enrich the literature, particularly in the field of interdisciplinary approaches to cryptocurrencies, knowledge, and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People obtain knowledge from different sources, depending on the issues that they wish to analyze or resolve. In this paper, the authors examine the sources of knowledge on cryptocurrencies that can be useful for young people. The authors used a survey questionnaire to collect empirical data. The sample consisted of students from Polish universities representing the population that is particularly interested in new technologies and solutions emerging on the market, as exemplified by cryptocurrencies. The purpose of this paper is to find an answer to the main research question: What sources of knowledge about cryptocurrencies have students used? Two criteria were taken into account, namely the respondents' gender and the location of the universities where they studied. The general results showed that students choose modern, preferably well-known sources of knowledge about cryptocurrencies such as popular information websites and social media as well as information provided by their family and friends. The gender analysis showed that the main differences concern the sources of knowledge on cryptocurrencies: popular information websites were chosen more often by men, whereas television and radio were used more frequently by females. Regarding the location of the university, our findings showed that the approach of students to sources of knowledge tends to be similar, regardless of whether they study in Warsaw or Katowice. A difference was found for only one variable, i.e., family and friends. Thus, family and friends were a source of knowledge that students from Warsaw used more frequently than those from Katowice. It may indicate that metropolitan students are more sociable or family-minded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge management modelling has lately mostly focused on taxonomies for contents of knowledge action (e.g. creation, protection, exploitation, dissemination) and resource-requirements for KM (e.g. chief knowledge officers' role, Intellectual Capital, KM systems). The literature on KM does contain individual remarks on the dynamic nature of knowledge and its management, but does not include the time-dependency in its frameworks. The concepts of agility and increased volatility propose that a firm's knowledge and processes on it are in a flux. Knowledge is not only accumulative but knowledge also inflates over time. Anticipation of future knowledge has rarely been inbuilt into KM frameworks. Some researchers (e.g. Kaivo-oja & Laureaeus, 2017; Rechberg, 2018) have presented reasoning as to how the futures-dimension should be incorporated into KM. Berry and Johnston-Jewell (2014) proposed a link in the opposite direction, proposing that KM approach and practices have the potential to improve futures foresight. The time-moderation (of futures) on knowledge and KM is thus a required dimension for framework building. This paper reviews the prior-art literature on the topic in the form of a brief bibliographic study. The research database Google Scholar is screened for relationships between KM and time/future-related concepts in research titles through Boolean search. The paper summarizes the findings of the analysis with a proposal of elements and their relationships needed for a dynamic knowledge management framework, where the axis of time is interwoven into the framework. A prospective framework for dynamic KM process is depicted for further study and elaboration to continue the KM framework development further from the proposals made by Saukkonen (2020). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses and examines trust building in the remote-digital negotiations. More specifically, the paper focuses on international trade negotiations aimed at being integrative, and how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the way they have been conducted over the years, mainly relying in face-to-face meetings. Information exchange and knowledge sharing is essential part of negotiations, occurring in interactive processes between actors involved. Trust is a prerequisite for effective information exchange and knowledge sharing and creation. Trust creates openness, willingness to collaborate, and freedom to be productive, and is a foundation for integrative negotiations. Trust manifests in different ways, affecting time, intensity, process, and results of the overall negotiation process. Remote working and remote-digital meetings have become prevalent these days, especially due to the disruption caused by Covid-19. Remote communication necessarily carries inescapable restrictions compared to face-to-face encountering and discussion. Therefore, the technology mediated (TM) remote context highlights the meaning of trust, as interaction and collaboration emerge more restricted than in faceto-face contacts. This paper builds on previous research on integrative negotiations, role of trust, and meetings. By analysing and discussing the academic literature, the purpose of the paper is to provide theoretical views and insights for further research, and practical implications for negotiators and professionals in general. The exploratory research questions are: i) what challenges did the Covid-19 pandemic pose to international trade negotiations? ii) how do virtual-TM meetings may affect trust building for integrative negotiations? iii) how does country culture and technology mediate the impact of virtual meetings in trade negotiations? By responding to these research questions, the paper focuses on intangible factors that may contribute to trust building or trust destroying in virtual meetings and how they may affect information exchange, knowledge sharing and knowledge dynamics leading to successful integrative negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to perform a semantic analysis of the knowledge dynamics concept and to propose a framework for the semantic clusters used in knowledge management. Knowledge is an abstract term without correspondence with any physical object. Knowledge can be understood through metaphorical thinking. Metaphors used in explaining knowledge contribute to its spectrum of meanings today and the difficulty of finding a unique definition. Among the most frequently used metaphors are those based on an object, a stock, an iceberg, a flow, a process, and energy. The concept of knowledge dynamics follows the same pattern, and its interpretation depends on the researcher's experience and the metaphor used. That explains why we find so many different interpretations for such a critical concept in knowledge management theory and practice. The aim of the present research is to perform a semantic analysis of the multiple meanings assigned to knowledge dynamics and to propose a framework for the semantic clusters. The research is based on a qualitative analysis of the literature, the theory of metaphorical thinking, and the theory of semantic clustering. We take as reference the well-defined meanings of the dynamics concept from physics and thermodynamics. In physics, dynamics means motion in space or change in time. In thermodynamics, dynamics means transformation from one state to another state or from one field into another field of a given variable. Our analysis findings can be instrumental in a better understanding of the knowledge dynamics concept and adequate utilization in practice. Many researchers use, for instance, the meaning of flow for both the concept of knowledge and that of knowledge dynamics without a correct understanding of the fluid mechanics laws. That leads to misinterpretations in their research models and empirical research. The originality of this paper comes from the semantic clustering analysis and the proposed framework used and an interdisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge often requires both experience (implicit knowledge) and exploration (explicit knowledge) (Park and Gabbard, 2018); the knowledge in the e-commerce industry is constantly changing. E-commerce companies must figure out knowledge hiding behaviors inside the organization and eliminate them. Although knowledge management and knowledge sharing implementation have been conducted in organizations academically and practically for many years, employees still share knowledge reluctantly. For instance, in an e-commerce company with multiple online shops, operators are reluctant to share knowledge with colleagues since the techniques and the newest information have huge impacts on the online sales, which will affect the operator's income and job stability in future (Han, Hampson and Wang, 2021). However, it is detrimental to the overall interests of the company because knowledge can bring competitive advantages to enterprises, and ensure that enterprises are distinguished from other organizations and occupy a favorable position in commercial competition. This paper investigated the antecedents of employees' knowledge hiding behavior from the knowledge type perspective and explores each path behind the individual type of knowledge: job insecurity path and timeliness path. At the same time, considering the existing fact that companies already have policies that encourage knowledge sharing but still have knowledge hiding behaviors, this paper also explores whether employees' perception toward corporate knowledge sharing strategies will affect the above two paths. The empirical data was collected from nearly 400 employees (frontline operators and junior managers) from six e-commerce business entities in China. The results verified that employees with a stronger perception of career plateau tend to hide tacit knowledge (derived from their experience) due to job insecurity behind. As to explicit knowledge, the higher the timeliness of the knowledge, the less likely it is that employees would like to hide their knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper reviews the elegant and practical concepts developed by John Lewis in The Explanation Age® by expanding the summary from Sisson's 2023 Unified Theory of Knowledge Management dissertation literature review. Approach: The integrated concepts are discussed individually, as well as in relation to their implications. Contents: The Explanation Age redirects thinking with Option Outlines™, providing a means to develop and document why answers into decision-making with transparency. It introduces the unified Innate Lesson Cycle™ change model, which explains the difference between conditioning and determination to develop better answers. Based on neuroscience, Story Thinking™ recognizes that everything is in a story (unlike storytelling, which communicates only about the past and envisions the future). Story Thinking provides an approach to better execute the innate lesson cycle. The 8 Degrees of Reason™ and The Symbiotic Table of Knowledge™ provide underpinnings for the accepted endpoints for answers. Findings: The Explanation Age and Story Thinking support Lewis's viewpoint of Knowledge Management as learning. Story Thinking can lead to transformational leadership results through collaboration. Lewis's constructs provide an alternate view to the forensic knows, Aristotle's causes, and Sisson and Ryan's (2015; 2017) "11 things we know" (Sisson, 2023, figure 6-2). Research limitations: Since their 2008 inception, new implications of Explanation Age concepts continue to surface. Practical implications: Lewis's concepts provide useful constructs for thinking and understanding learning from a KM perspective. Option Outlines provide a way to document why. "The Innate Lesson Cycle describes the phases of lesson-based learning, for both" experiential (Kolb) and rote (Skinner) learning (Lewis and Sisson, 2016; Sisson, 2023) making their concepts more useful. Story Thinking--as a practical operational strategy--extends the implementation capabilities of the Innate Lesson Cycle and provides an approach for transformational leadership. Social implications: Story Thinking as an operational concept provides new ways to identify innovative ideas and facilitate change. Sensemaking and transparency in decision-making (missing in the fundamental models used by institutions, such as agile, education, healthcare, and policy) are the basis for this (the only complete) descriptive model of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a model supporting capturing and using tacit expert knowledge in evaluation of development projects. The issue of evaluation of such projects is one of the poorly structured problems related to making decisions in conditions of high uncertainty. It results from the indispensability to consider the frequently irrational qualitative criteria and the subjective nature of nonverbal resources of tacit knowledge often unconsciously acquired by evaluators as a result of their many years’ experience working in expert panels. Those experts have various beliefs and attitudes and understand the meaning of qualitative evaluation criteria in a different way. The decisions they make may result from mental, cultural, social, psychological and other immeasurable factors. Therefore, the evaluation process might have a subjective character and it is necessary to strive to increase its objectivity. Improving and objectifying subsequent evaluation processes may result from the capturing and sharing tacit knowledge related to previous evaluation processes. In accordance with the purpose of the paper, the following research question was formulated: is it possible to uncover and capture subjective and empirical tacit knowledge, which is a generalization of the experience of experts, in a way that enables the management of such knowledge and its use in subsequent project evaluation processes? Such activities can support the organization's learning to build its capacity to carry out evaluation processes even without the participation of evaluators whose tacit knowledge has been captured and uncovered. This paper presents not only theoretical considerations concerning the proposed Tacit Knowledge Management Cycle model (TKMCM), but also complements them with empirical experiments related to the implementation of the model based on decision tables and rules. As a result of the research, it became possible to positively empirically verify the model in capturing and uncovering subjective as well as empirical tacit knowledge in evaluation of development projects. This verification process was carried out using empirical data derived from the evaluation processes of such projects. The discussed model confirmed its usefulness in supporting the implementation of processes based on expert bound empirical and tacit knowledge, which creates conditions for building new methods for capturing, recording, managing and disseminating such knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we discuss mentorship in the university context with a focus on knowledge sharing and creation. We assume from the outset that academics and actors representing practice, as well as students, can be considered as distinct or interlinked communities of practice, where the participants of the community share similar values, norms and practices that follow community-specific dominant logics. We suggest there is a role for mentors between academia, student life and fields of practice, and that the knowledge creation and sharing processes can take different formats, similar to changing mentor roles in facilitating or sharing the knowledge processes. We discuss the roles of mentors in the knowledge sharing contexts of communities of practice building on previous studies reflecting the professional identity of students and mentoring in those same contexts. We look at knowledge and learning as processes, acknowledging the specific nature of tacit and explicit knowledge following the perspectives from the SECI model and experiential learning. We further elaborate the role of mentors in sharing and building knowledge focusing on the university context. The results indicate that mentoring takes various forms and needs different enabling processes in different contexts within university cycles. The role of informal unexpected mentoring occurring within the 'ordinary' learning context is often ignored. The contribution of the paper provides a deeper understanding of mentoring in the university, as well as elaborating on the mentor as a knowledge activist contributing new insights in knowledge management discussions. The study has managerial implications related to new approaches to transforming mentoring from being an "add-on" activity to an integrated part of university curriculum development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human Factors is a broad area of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary studies and research focused on the perspective of the interaction between organizational, group and individual factors that aims at improving the performance and safety of people in complex organizations and socio-technical environments. Knowledge to develop solutions to the complex problems that arise in this context can be co-produced by academic and non-academic actors through a transdisciplinary research framework that integrates the daily practices of stakeholders and creates structures that make coproduction spaces effective for corporate's practices. This paper present and discuss the strategies and challenges for developing spaces for human factors-based knowledge co-production on a transdisciplinary research project during the pandemic period of COVID-19. This ongoing research was designed to develop interactions and to co-produce knowledge aimed at the safety culture of companies in the oil and gas sector. Under the imposition of social distance and its consequent challenges, strategies to promote interaction, iteration, sharing, integration, co-creation, and co-production of knowledge had to be redesigned. Based on partial results, the research discusses and analyze the main dilemmas for the knowledge coproduction focusing on the 30 researchers, and on the knowledge coproduction between researchers and stakeholders. Although the COVID-19 pandemic had imposed new forms of relationships, the main challenges remained on the integration of knowledge as perceived by the research team. This paper presents the confrontation of the knowledge co-production challenges imposed by the new context associated with addressing two new constructs for the oil and gas industry, human factors and resilience, to improve safety culture. The discussion suggests and presents possibilities to overcome these challenges to continuous stimulate co-production of knowledge in these organizational environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge Management (KM) can reflect an aspirational vision of how human knowledge, identity, and technology should interact. As innovations emerge, our view and expectations of the future evolve. Innovation is part of the KM process and requires the ability to imagine these mutable futures before they materialise. The imagined worlds of Science Fiction (SF) offer one way to explore possible futures and future possibilities. Indeed, some classic SF literature is strikingly prescient. These imagined worlds provide a landscape of inspirations and warnings that can support our understanding of the ethical and social impacts of working with and managing knowledge. Often presenting an extreme vector or 'ideal type' of how technology is shaped by, and in turn shapes, human life, SF provides a rich repertoire of imagined futures that enable us to support a Precautionary Principle in how we develop and implement technology. Drawing on classical and contemporary SF literature, this paper explores a number of SF visions of the future. It categorises the major themes of the roles played by human knowledge and technology, as portrayed in the selected texts. It then discusses how these imagined futures currently influence our discourse about knowledge, and how they might inform current and further ethical concerns on KM and technology development. Finally, it offers some new insights for how SF might inspire and influence KM, particularly with respect to the social and ethical impact of managing knowledge. We conclude that SF literature provides a repertoire of imagined future possibilities and possible futures that could inform and improve KM's ability to ethically plan for innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intangible assets' communication is essential for stakeholder to grasp the companies' knowledge potential. Despite the annual report is largely inadequate to communicate intangibles value because of accounting requirements, it offers a unique chance of representing intangibles acquired in M&A. Prior evidence shows that opportunistic behaviours drive such allocation reducing the reporting transparency about the display of the acquired intangibles. However, according to the signalling theory, companies are more likely to provide information about intangibles when the proprietary costs of revealing know-how do not outweigh the benefits achievable by reducing the information asymmetry. The paper aims at investigating the representation of the intangibles' value depending on the companies' innovation degree. Moving from the argument that innovative companies embrace M&A mainly to acquire intangibles, I hypothesize that such companies are more likely to disclose the value of the intangibles with the aim of reveal the strategic motivations to the price paid. The paper offers empirical evidence about the communication in the annual report of the intangibles acquired in a M&A comparing innovative companies and traditional ones. The findings confirm that innovative companies are more inclined than traditional companies to disclose information about the acquired intangibles. Furthermore, companies that minimize the intangibles disclosure are those acquiring target companies operating in the same industry, indicating that the acquisition is driven by expected synergies instead of identifiable intangibles. Such distinction suggests that the annual report enable managers to reveal the strategic reasons motivating the deal value. Innovative companies are inclined to reveal the source of their innovation to protect their knowledge. Inferences contributes to the literature showing that the annual report may be a communication channel for the corporate knowledge. The evidence offers practical implication for managers and stakeholders about the annual report's aptitude to communicate the knowledge potential that is incorporated or in the specific intangibles or in the expected synergies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of Sub-Saharan South Africa's public sector could be deemed dependent on context-relevant knowledge sharing and transfer (KST) frameworks to facilitate knowledge exchange. Knowledge sharing and transfer frameworks which facilitate knowledge management (KM) are still largely influenced by Western research studies, these contributions dominate the field. The extant knowledge sharing and transfer public management frameworks increasingly reflect a predominantly western oriented bias towards objectivist perspectives on knowledge, the alternate practice-based knowledge sharing and transfer frameworks, considered responsive to Sub-Saharan African knowledge exchange problems are under-investigated. This paper thus aims to understand 'what KST framework factors enhance public management in Sub-Saharan South Africa'. The research was designed as a qualitative study underpinned by interpretivist philosophy. Qualitative data were collected from 15 public sector practitioners, using the semi-structured interview technique. Thematic Analysis and Trans Positional Cognition Approach was used to analyse the data collected. The findings from this study yielded four themes namely, Unique antecedent performance factors; Human performance factors; Organisational performance factors and Continuous learning performance strategies. Rahman's knowledge sharing and transfer conceptual model was adopted as a theoretical framework and used to better understand the findings of this work. Applying the theoretical framework, we note elements within Rahman's model could be deemed more applicable in a Western context as it only confirmed two of the study's four findings. We therefore propose the output of this study as new knowledge within the Knowledge sharing and transfer frameworks' domain. Our contribution is compatible with the Sub-Saharan South African organisational context. The implication of this within context is that KST implementation in sub-Saharan South Africa could deemed bottom up oriented as against the western approach which is top-down. This study thus contributes to a better understanding of KST Framework implementation in Sub Saharan South Africa and provides opportunity for future research work in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is evidently clear that globalization is seen widely in recent times as a means of knowledge-based economy, and more importantly, an instrumental indicator to influence economic development. For this reason, some researchers are increasingly interested in how globalization impacts our society leading to economic growth. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between globalization, internet penetration, and economic development in Czech Republic and Slovakia. Panel Regression analysis is employed to analyze a twenty two-year panel data (from 2000 to 2022), using secondary data from the World Bank, OECD, and UNDP database of the selected countries. We analyze globalization variables such as trade openness, internet penetration as independent variables and used infrastructural investment, political instability index, and labor force participation rate as control variables. Also, with economic development as a dependent variable, we used Human development index, and GNI per capita to ascertain the effect of globalization and internet penetration on economic development. The results showed a significant positive correlation between trade openness with HDI and GNI in both Czech and Slovakia. The analysis also found that internet penetration has a significant impact on HDI and GNI in Czech, but not on GNI in Slovakia. This study highlights the important role that globalization and internet penetration play in economic development and provides valuable insights for policymakers in Czech and Slovakia. The findings of this study contribute to the existing literature on the relationship between globalization, internet penetration, and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines an award-winning technology enabled Information and Knowledge Management (IKM) programme carried out by the Irish Defence Forces (DF). The programme introduced new procedures, a new staffing function and a new enterprise-wide collaboration platform for knowledge discovery and sharing. This paper begins by outlining the importance of this research and stating the research question. The second section looks at the methods of assessing programmes of this type. A Return On Expectations (ROE) methodology is selected as most suitable in this instance (Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick, 2010). The third section presents the findings and the paper concludes with a short summary and recommendations which are internationally relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses and explores trust development focusing on restoration of trust after trust violations or breaches within leader-follower relationship and focusing on the follower's view in the empirical qualitative study. Trust is an important intangible asset, knowledge resource growing or diminishing in organizations and their leadership. Trust is a multi-level, dynamic and complex concept in nature embedded in abilities, skills, knowhow, insights and relations enabling human capital growth and improved performance. In the trust research within managerial context, trust forms a foundation for cooperation in workplace relations. Knowing and sharing knowledge play a role in trust and its restoration. The paper aims to increase understanding of trust restoration in workplaces searching for decisive incidents, moments and phases in the process, and followers' perceptions of the most significant issues. The purpose of the paper is two-fold; first, to produce new empirical findings from trust restoration in workplace relationships that are still scarcely studied empirically, and second, provide insights into current and further research, and implications to practice. A need for studying and understanding trust and trust restoration more in-depth is well grounded, as the prior studies show that trust development process appears rather complex, multi-form and unpredictable boosting even unintentionally "the dynamics of evil". Trusting in workplace resource and activity is largely about communication and sharing knowledge by multi-channel and presently more and more technology-mediated, which may lead to misunderstandings and even violations of trust. The empirical qualitative data consists of interviews and written accounts of followers' experiences of trust restoration in leader-follower relationship. The findings reveal three phases within the trust restoration process discussed in more detail in the paper. Implications are made to avoiding mistrust development and trust breaches highlighting e.g., trustworthiness and communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses human-technology relationship in the Industry 4.0 environment. The combination of information technology with operational technology creates a cyber-physical environment that brings new challenges and requirements on management and management systems including different aspects of work with knowledge and knowledge management. Human-technology interaction represents an interesting factor of Industry 4.0. The aviation industry is the field where Industry 4.0 started many years before the term was officially formulated. The idea to equip aircrafts with intelligent systems that help pilots to operate them safely changed planes from relatively simply engines to complicated systems and transformed them to cyber-physical environment typical for Industry 4.0; a highly qualified human with a huge portion of tacit knowledge meets and cooperates with fast operating technology based on sophisticated information system (explicit knowledge). The objective of the paper is to explore this relationship between human (tacit and explicit) and technical (explicit) factor in Industry 4.0 aviation environment. To do so, we use examples of situations (cases) when cooperation between both systems failed; the objective is to explain the role of human and technology protagonists and their relationship and role in the development and solution of a problem situation, and capture lesson learned applicable to different Industry 4 environments. As the aviation industry is very sensitive to mistakes, accidents are investigated to prevent them in future and results of investigations are published. Examples of situations (cases) come from this secondary data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, smartness and smart development were mainly subjects in popular usage rather than genuine academic concepts in their own right. The conceptualization endeavours are further hindered by the two-facet approach to smartness/smart development - technological and social. The former is mostly related to IT application and the latter to the decisions made by people. The conceptualization of the social approach to smartness constitutes probably the biggest challenge to the researchers in the field. Even if knowledge management theory is taken as a basic theory, the question of the role of knowledge in "smartness" and smart development is still unclear. It seems to be particularly challenging when dealing with complicated and especially with complex social systems. They may vary from small specific communities to the state, region, economy, education, etc. The aim of the paper is to discuss the role of knowledge in achieving the qualities of a smart social system. The paper is based on the results obtained from the extended research project "Smart development of social systems". The state, region, city, community, economy, public governance and culture have been taken as the research object. In our working definition, a smart social system is such a system of communications wherein people and other social agents are able to envisage the features critical for the environment or the particular system, to which they quickly and innovatively react by adjusting to these environments with adequate decisions assuring its further development. Eight dimensions of a smart social system and key principles of smart development of different social systems are considered and will be discussed in the paper. Discussing the research results with the researchers representing different fields of knowledge will contribute to better understanding of the phenomenon. The ideas presented in the article might be of interest to researchers from the field of innovation, entrepreneurial ecosystems, education, strategy and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: Hand in hand with the growing importance of the concept of open innovation, firms are increasingly forced to look for new external knowledge that would support their innovation. Cooperation with various partners across the public and private sectors is thus one of the key determinants of successful innovation nowadays. However, concepts aimed at sharing knowledge and creating innovation together may not always be successful, specifically within Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. For example, in comparison with Western countries. It is due to the fact, that CEE countries have undergone different historical developments and are often burdened by insufficient absorption capacity. Therefore, this paper analyses the importance of cooperation with various partners on firms´ process innovation within CEE countries, as a crucial source of firms´ external knowledge. Especially, we focus on the Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, and Estonia. In comparison with previous studies, we propose two step approach, while we firstly examine influence of various types of cooperation on firm’s innovation in each country. In the second step, use aggregate datasets of firms across selected CEE counties and perform the same analyses. As a data source, we are using the latest available Community Innovation Survey provided by Eurostat. The results of our study show that cooperation with other enterprises within enterprise group and cooperation with suppliers of equipment, materials, components, or software have a significant positive impact on Czech and Slovak firms as well as on the aggregated dataset of CEE countries. On the other hand, Estonian firms benefit from cooperation with competitors or other enterprises in sector and with universities or other higher education institutes. Surprisingly, we show that in the case of Estonia, cooperation with consultants or commercial labs has a negative influence on firms´ process innovation. Moreover, results for aggregated datasets of CEE counties has proved a negative effect of cooperation with government, public or private research institutes and with universities or other higher education institutes on firms´ process innovation. Based on these results, we propose several implications for innovating firms´ in each country as well as for other CEE countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is evidently seen that social networks are assessed widely in recent times as a means of sharing knowledge, and more importantly, resist control from influential entities compared to the regular media. Social media fight corruption by making information readily available in the form of analysis, endorsements, and through campaigns and collaboration. For this reason, some researchers are increasingly interested in how knowledge of social networks impacts our society leading to corruption reduction. In this paper, we explore the contribution of the knowledge of social media networks in reducing corruption within CEE countries. Regression analysis is employed to analyze an eighteen-year panel data (from 2002 to 2020), using secondary data from the World Bank, the World Press Freedom Index, and Transparency International of the selected CEE countries. We analyze social media variables such as social media usage, cultural tightness looseness (CTL) as independent variables and used press freedom, political stability index, and GDP per capita as control variables. Also, with corruption as a dependent variable, we used control of corruption index (CCI) and corruption perception index (CPI) to ascertain the social media network effect on corruption reduction. This article contributes to the existing knowledge by discovering the unique role that social media knowledge plays in reducing corruption in CEE countries. The result has shown that both social media usage and CTL significantly affect corruption and its reduction. In addition, it allows us to propose some practical implications for policymakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is interest in various forms of knowledge management, including communities of practice. However, there are no confirmed results on the conditions for success, while organizations expect substantial gains from knowledge development. Communities of practice are seen as a source of knowledge management, and in the end of competitiveness and innovation. The interest arises from this objective of knowledge management and innovation, but it is a specific form of knowledge management, in principle more centred on the individuals and their exchanges than on "management" by the firm, although the firm has a role to play in fostering such initiatives. Thus, the use of communities of practice has emerged as a way to develop collective skills and organizational knowledge, in order to foster innovation and success for organizations. The main contribution of this paper is that it identifies the conditions for success of communities of practice as a mode of knowledge management and knowledge sharing, as these conditions have not been confirmed in previous work. The paper first defines this form of knowledge sharing through communities of practice. It then presents some of the results concerning success, specifically satisfaction and attainment of objectives, as success is defined in this way. This is done on the basis of various case studies of communities of practice which were studied over a period of one year. The empirical results are based on a questionnaire survey administered to the participants of these communities of practice, but also on qualitative interviews and regular work and exchanges with some of the animators/managers and participants in these communities of practice. Some interesting differences are observed according to age and gender, as well as some challenges that were observed in the knowledge-sharing process, and which are often underestimated. The paper identifies some conditions which explain success, defined as attainment of objectives, and these are: commitment and motivation of participants for the attainment of objectives, as well as the presence of a leader, animator or steward. These preconditions for success confirm and extend what is documented in the literature, especially in the seminal work of Wenger and Lave (1991). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the socialising function of training meetings and the role it may play in trust development, as intangible resource within and inter-organisations. As part of a broader empirical research to explore the functions meetings may play for the participants, based on 978 meetings hold in the context of a project implemented in six countries, 106 training meetings were analysed to respond to the research question "What meanings do participants attribute to the training meetings they attend?". Data collected were analysed with graph-network analysis and exploratory statistics. Results show that the function of socialising (social dimension of meetings) appeared as significantly relevant in training meetings, as perceived by the participants. The contribution of this research is to bring this dimension to the fore and explore its role in knowledge sharing/creation and trust development for enhancing intellectual capital (IC). The findings have implications for researchers and practitioners. The effectiveness of training meetings in terms of the time invested, or the achievement of objectives in knowledge transfer, are important, but may not be the only factors to be considered when organising a training meeting. Further research should be conducted on what factors influence the perceived meanings-functions of training meetings, also related to trust, considering different organisational and cultural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents partial results from the first empirical study of KM in SMEs of Vietnam. A preliminary survey had revealed that KM is an important issue for SMEs in Vietnam. It also identified the main motivation for SMEs to implement KM-related activities (the search for solutions to a chronic shortage of competent employees) as well as the two probable main causes for this shortage: (1) the departure of employees from SMEs and/or (2) remaining employees not learning how to work effectively. Using statistical analysis and fuzzy methodology, this paper formally verifies whether the inferences from the preliminary study really hold for the general population of Vietnamese SMEs, and from there proposes obvious actions to be taken to solve the shortage of competent employees. The findings presented in this paper help us understand more about the operations of SMEs in developing countries and suggest a feasible approach to initiate KM for SMEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses specifics of the Enneagram, the classification of human personality, and its potential for the management of knowledge workers. The objective of the paper is to introduce the Enneagram and show how a specific group of knowledge workers, Erasmus exchange students in masters programmes at the University of Economics in Prague, see their personality in relation to their Enneagram type. Personality is a factor that remarkably influences our behaviour. It influences the way we decode incentives from the external and internal environment, how we feel about them and how we respond to them. It also influences what we like, what we do not like and of course, it influences factors that motivate us and demotivate us. Knowledge workers are not exceptional. Knowing the personalities of knowledge workers and being able to use this knowledge in management may help managers to overcome problems of knowledge work and knowledge workers. It also helps to develop the strengths of knowledge workers and choose the right career. The Enneagram is a complex dynamic system of evaluation and work with human personality. It works with nine personality types, three subtypes, and nine levels of personal development. It also recognises special interrelations between types based on an individual's special life situation. All these factors together enable us to understand individuals and their behaviour, to predict it and influence it and help to tailor future development of the individuals in accordance with their abilities and strong features. This paper introduces the Enneagram and provides the results of a small qualitative survey on the Enneagram among Erasmus exchange students in masters programmes at the University of Economics in Prague. In our understanding, Erasmus exchange students in master programmes are already knowledge workers, many of them with significant working experience. Data was collected from their perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is common opinion that knowledge management practices and creativity are very important factors for firms facing a turbulent and dynamic environment. Knowledge and creativity in fact are a helpful support for managers that have to make decisions under uncertain and complex conditions. Knowledge generates economic value when it is utilized to solve problems and making decisions and so problem solving becomes the way thanks to which it is possible to link firm knowledge to firm performance. But when facing new problems, people and organizations will have to go beyond their knowledge maps and find a new path that will allow them to find new solutions. That is why PS involves a great deal of creativity. They are not only complementary but also synergic in the problem solving process. This paper aims to shed light on the benefits that knowledge and creativity are able to produce for the problem solving process and how this, in turn, impacts on firms' performance. We collected survey data from January to March 2015 from a sample of 1525 leading Italian industrial companies. Findings confirm that work design, organizational culture and structure increase organizational creativity and, more generally, the firm's ability to solve problems (efficacy in finding and implementing new and useful solutions). Results also suggest that in order to successfully win challenges and arrive where nobody else has been before people need to rely on both their knowledge and creativity. Furthermore it seems very clear that creativity deploys its greatest potential when it rests on strong epistemic bases. It can be gathered that for a better understanding of the potential benefits deriving from knowledge and creativity it is necessary to consider the synergy they could activate. One of the main limitations of the present paper is that it has not been possible to stratify problem solving skills by hierarchical levels (i.e., strategic, tactical, operational) nor split them in to functional areas (i.e., marketing, finance, R&D, etc.). Another limitation is the generalizability of results given that the data was collected from one single European country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, there is a highly competitive environment because of globalization. Hence, firms are required to be continuously innovative in order to succeed in national as well as international markets. Moreover, they are forced to find additional sources of competitive advantage. Knowledge creation and its application into new products, processes and services seems to be crucial during the process of innovation creation. For this purpose, firms can use their own (internal) knowledge or they can find external knowledge sources, for example through research and development processes. At the same time, firms' employees, as one of the holders of firm knowledge, as well as the creators of new knowledge, represent key players in above-mentioned innovation and knowledge-creation processes. In this paper, we analyzed the role of different groups of firms' employees with an emphasis on their knowledge and experience (professionals with extensive theoretical and technical knowledge; technicians with mechanical or technical knowledge; employees with university degree knowledge) in the processes of innovation creation. For this purpose, we focus on the firms in Latvia and Estonia from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), which are often referred to as lagging countries, primarily behind Western European countries. This is mainly due to the lower levels of trust, poorer infrastructure availability and a lack of social capital. The paper employs partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis and the latest edition of the data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019. This paper contributes to the current level of knowledge by revealing the role of different types of employee knowledge in the process of firm's innovations. Moreover, it allows us to propose some specific practical implications for firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In discussions on the creation of trust in enterprises, the subject of the significance of intangible values in terms of its stimulation is increasingly undertaken. One of these is that of organizational trust which strengthens the level of cooperation between the employees and employee teams within the enterprise, which in turn is favourable towards the creation of knowledge. Trust aids the transfer of information that is necessary for the creation of knowledge. Hence, this may constitute a key attribute in its creation, which in turn, increases the opportunities for the enterprise to gain a competitive advantage on the market. The problematic issues of the ties between organizational trust and the creation of knowledge is a relatively rare subject matter for research analysis. The authors of this paper intend to fill the gap in this field and present the findings of empirical research into the role of organizational trust in terms of creating knowledge that favours innovativeness in enterprises. The assumption that trust influences the creation of knowledge and innovativeness in enterprises made it possible to formulate the research objective, which was to examine the impact of the dimensions of organizational trust (horizontal, vertical and institutional trust) on the creation of knowledge and innovativeness of employees. The assumed goal was executed owing to the application of the survey method. Empirical research was conducted on 179 enterprises from the list of the 500 largest enterprises in Poland. As a result of the research, significant statistical ties were discovered between the types of organizational trust and the process of creating knowledge. The positive impact of organizational trust on innovativeness in the analysed enterprises was indicated. The research findings acquired indicate the significant role of trust in terms of stimulating the processes of creating knowledge and innovativeness in large enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using a panel of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) data based on the Oslo Manual (OECD, 2005) which gives methodological guidelines and defines the innovation concepts, this work contributes to the literature on knowledge and innovation (i.e de Felice et al, 2012; Landry et al., 2002; Barrutia and Echebarria, 2010). We investigate how the channels of knowledge transfer create different kinds of innovation (product, process, marketing, organizational) with reference to the manufacturing sector. The aim of this paper is to observe the relationship between Baltic countries- Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These countries present common features and a similar history as they regained their independence from the Soviet Union in the early nineties before joining the EU in 2004 and more recently in 2011 the euro area (Poissonier, 2017). In addition, they show major similarities in terms of geography, size, economic structure. In terms of economic structure, these countries have undergone many transformations over the past year- particularly in the industrial sector, in which an important role is played by external geographic market compared to their small economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge is defined as "justified true belief", but both justification and truth are paid very little attention by the Knowledge Management field. The paper reviews the justification methods that organizations employ de-facto - positivism, conventionalism and pragmatism, and discusses their weaknesses. The method of critical rationalism (CR) is then presented as a remedy for these weaknesses, despite the opposition the method faces from organizational experts. A new knowledge framework that realigns the canonical theories of organizational knowledge is constructed; the main argument in this paper is that the framework does enable CR. The implementation of CR is then demonstrated by a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many times it is stated that nowadays we live in the information age. Knowledge has been recognized as the most important asset both for organizations and for individual knowledge workers. Thus knowledge and knowledge management is an actively researched area. So far a lot of attention has been geared towards knowledge, which we know and which we know that we do not know. However there still remains such unknown knowledge about which we do not know that we know, and such knowledge about which we do not know that we do not know. This paper proposes a new notion of knowledge substance, which encompasses the whole expanse of knowledge around people and around the whole environment they live in. Also it introduces a knowledge utility quotient, which in particular cases displays the ratio of available knowledge and all the required knowledge to perform a particular task. Knowledge workers represent increasingly high number of different professions. Along with that individual knowledge and personal knowledge management receive more attention among professionals and among researchers as well. This paper proposes a personal trinity model approach for developing a personal knowledge management system. It is proposed that such system includes both social and partially technological aspects of personal knowledge management. In addition also a psychological aspect of personal knowledge management is partially encompassed in this approach. Several knowledge acquisition principles are suggested by taking into account a knowledge substance notion and personal trinity model approach. Paper views personal trinity model approach from individual's necessities aspect and gives a set of characteristics a knowledge worker should strive for. The next step of this research is seen to combine personal trinity model approach with personal knowledge management system strictly technical approach. Possible future opportunities for personal knowledge management are explored and potential benefiting parties are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As we consider that the concepts of knowledge, knowledge work, knowledge workers and knowledge management have a strong relationship to organizational performance and competitiveness, the aim of this paper is to present relations among mentioned concepts, find appropriate characteristics with regard to knowledge workers and design a framework of knowledge worker typology identification instrument. The considerable lack of focus of tacit knowledge in knowledge management applications is inappropriate to broadly accepted claim that this type of knowledge is most important to knowledge work and knowledge management performance. According to various sources tacit knowledge defines knowledge workers. Knowledge works are scattered among all organizations but they are not treated accordingly so their performance could be hindered lack of attention to their special needs. Knowledge workers cannot be assessed or evaluated the same way as other workers therefore the recognition of knowledge workers in an organization sees crucial. The first part of the paper deals with fundamental definitions, description and basic assumptions that lead authors to the topic. Then authors focus on concepts related to the problem especially knowledge workers. Knowledge workers are characterized and categorized according to literature review of the topic. Authors suggest own knowledge workers typology framework. This framework consists of three different types of knowledge worker: the knowledge users (KU), the knowledge creators (KC) and knowledge facilitators (KF). The concept is illustrated figures that show relationships among those types of knowledge workers. Based on previous suggestions a design of identification instrument is drawn. The following part focuses on the knowledge worker typology identification instrument concept based on cognitive processes and Bloom's taxonomy of learning processes. It distinguishes several domains and levels that determine each type. A probe is made to support of disprove authors proposals and suggestions. Results of the probe will be presented at the conference. The purpose of this paper is to promote author's assumptions and implications of the knowledge worker typology and identification for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge management has been an increasing focus for both researchers and practitioners for more than a decade. The discussions generally have viewed the goal of KM as the application of technical and organizational capabilities to improve the processes of creating, storing, retrieving, transferring, and applying knowledge. The work done in the field of informatics focuses on the use of information and telecommunication applications, considering knowledge management aspects. The complexity of knowledge and its requirements to handle it perfectly exceed the possibilities in that sector of informatics at the moment. On the other hand a lot of new technologies have been developed which are succeeding in individual fields of knowledge management. Database systems, applications of artificial intelligence, the principle of the object orientation, data mining and other knowledge tools are some examples of useful implementations in the certain branch of knowledge management. These tools support beside the communication aspects the storage and the distribution of knowledge. This paper addresses an approach of knowledge management and management of information in a large organization. Further, this paper addresses the advantages and disadvantages of some existing systems. Another important aspect is the integrative effect of the new system, which makes it possible to include different resources in one coherent system. In this paper we have seen knowledge from many different points of views. We can say that knowledge is one abstraction level above information and we found out, that discipline knowledge can be subdivided in three different parts, based on informatics, business practice and strategy research. Later on we tried to see knowledge as a resource and found out that it is hard to change established habits of employees to teach them new processes. We have thoroughly discussed the communication of knowledge and the problems and approaches which can be very useful to manage the information flood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The core focus of this study is on the interplay of power and knowledge, which characterises the interaction of stakeholders in the banking industry when implementing a new regulation. The specific context for this research was the investigation of the implementation process of the Basel II regulation across the banking industry of an Asian developing country. The banking industry is faced with a lack of human expertise and inefficient information systems to introduce the radical changes required for the implementation of Basel II. Amid these issues, there is a need to improve communication, coordination and information sharing system among the regulator and the member banks within the country's financial industry in order to effectively implement the Basel II accord. The study involved semi-structured interviews with fifty eight senior, middle and junior managers across 14 private, government and foreign-owned banks, with additional documentary evidence collected. This paper presents the findings of the first case study, a public sector bank and documents the initial findings regarding issues such as trust, motivation, relationships, power, knowledge and the process of change. These issues are further explored using Foucault's power/knowledge nexus, as an additional lens to provide insights into the process of change. The impact of these factors on organisational knowledge sharing is also discussed and its resulting effect on the implementation of Basel II. Conclusions of this research are drawn along with implications for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do people share their knowledge? Who and what inspires them to do it especially within organizations in Central-Eastern European countries? The authors, at the University of Pannonia, Department of Management in Hungary, have conducted an empirical survey, which has investigated the characteristic features of knowledge sharing of managers, working under top managers at medium- and large sized enterprises. Beyond studies focusing mainly on the regions of the USA, Japan and Western Europe, there is barely any research work focusing on knowledge sharing in Central-Eastern Europe. This increases the importance of this research. The aim of the research was to reveal the factors which affect the maturity of knowledge sharing of these managers and to measure the role of these managers in the maturity of knowledge sharing. Before showing the initial results of our survey which was conducted before the beginning of and during the economic crisis, our paper first presents the growing importance of knowledge sharing in these days by giving a brief description of knowledge and knowledge sharing. The central part of this paper makes an attempt to compare the results of two assumed influencing factors of our survey, and their effect on the maturity of knowledge sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of the global changes taking place in the labour market, which cause staff turnover and problems with recruiting new employees, organizational knowledge and innovation may prove to be particularly important. Treating knowledge as only a set of codified data, information or processes do not take into consideration the knowledge accumulated in the brains of employees, especially those whose professional seniority or experience makes them “mines of knowledge”. Transforming the so-called tacit, silent knowledge of employees into explicit knowledge is not only important in the context of maintaining organizational knowledge, but it may also affect the innovative climate of an organization. As part of the analysis of the problem of transforming organizational knowledge into innovation, a survey of top 500 Polish companies, as listed by Rzeczpospolita portal, was conducted. The purpose of this paper is to present the opinions of the representatives of employers from the TOP 500 list in terms of their perception of selected innovation indicators. The following tests were used for the purpose of data analysis in the STATISTICA program: the Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA on ranks test, the Mann-Whitney test, the median test and Pearson’s chi-square test. The strength of correlations between the variables was evaluated by means of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The results of the research suggest links between the type of business, the size of a company, the volume of annual revenue and the selected indicators of organizational climate. They also reveal dependencies between the perception of knowledge and organizational climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prior work of the paper illustrates a wide variety of different assertions as regards integrating future students in continuous training courses. The performance in the learning field through knowledge transfer is increasingly debated. To understand this approaches the research team proposes to select and test student skills and competence using creative methods to carry out and improve the knowledge transfer. These tests are helpful for identify the learning style appropriate every student integrated in continuous training courses. Further work is proposing to designing a solution plan for identifying the level of student training, personal preferences that should be developed in accordance with the educational structure that the student identifies or he is already assigned to a potential class. The implication of the study is to improve the strategy of training students using creation techniques for helping students to learn. The procedure includes six sequences of testing designed on specific process topics of evaluation on the level and the configuration of knowledge transfer that matches the future student. Each sequence is carried out by designing peculiar tests on domain of interest to evaluate the potential of the student by his learning style. The improvement brought to framework is based on methodology Win-Win and Clarity of Communication (WWCC), strategy build on the Theory of Constraints Thinking Process (TOCTP) combined with Lotus Blossom Techniques. The paper demonstrates how WWCC-TOCTP combined with creative techniques applies the cause-and-effect thinking process to understand and improve all systems and organizations, but particularity a research situation for identify the learning style of student in continuous training courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Italian firms are historically characterized by their small size. The small dimension is often not only a starting point but also a condition of existence itself, due to the harsh environment in which companies work. Knowledge sharing together with stable collaborative relationships among firms can help to avoid the environmental constraints that Italian firms usually have to deal with. The aim of the paper is to show - also by means of a case study - how collaboration based on trust and knowledge sharing facilitate the Italian firms' process of growth, even in the less developed areas of the Country [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim of this paper is to highlight the need for a robust Knowledge Assessment Framework (KAF). The need for a case study approach also will be highlighted. The development of a KAF is important for organisations for three reasons. Firstly, the use of knowledge assessment allows firms to pinpoint knowledge gaps. Secondly, it allows firms to manage knowledge more effectively. Thirdly, it gives organisations a diagnostic tool with which to gauge their knowledge base. The effective management of knowledge can be considered a competency that enables a greater level of service to be extracted from other resources within the organisation. The results of this study highlight several points for organisations interested in understanding their knowledge base. The analysis moved beyond simply looking at the framework itself and offers some interesting insights [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economy is changing. Resources are scarce and companies, of all sizes, need to be more competitive and productive. The company's financial risk ratings have demonstrated numerous weaknesses. The funders, shareholders or even the State need tools that improve the quality of their decision making. Several authors argue that the real competitive advantages resulting from the management of intangible assets, i.e. assets of knowledge, as a condition for achieving the productivity and competitiveness. However, organizations have always valued the knowledge; the novelty is the recognition that knowledge is an asset that must be managed with the same attention given to other assets. The literature contains numerous definitions of knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) consider knowledge as "a dynamic human process of justifying personal belief about the truth" and the understanding how crucial to the creation of knowledge to differentiate between tacit knowledge (which is obtained through practice) and explicit is. In this sense, knowledge is the information to be used by the human mind allowing the decision-making. And knowledge management is the ability that the organization has to identify and codify knowledge, stimulate their development and facilitate its implementation (Lopes and Matos, 2005). The knowledge management can also be understood as the orientation of the dynamics of subjectivity and objectivity within the organization (Rowley and Gibbs, 2008), maximized through use of new technologies and organizational networks. From this perspective, knowledge management is the quality of the interactions of individuals, teams, processes and customers and its ability to identify and encode the same knowledge, stimulate their development and facilitate its implementation. Following the conceptualization these are the dimensions that allow us to define intellectual capital. But to manage in times of market globalization, in which trust is based on evidence, becomes crucial to know whether it is possible to audit and certify assets of organizations. Therefore, it is necessary to create reliable and accessible tools in this field. Thus, intellectual capital management, in a form which is able to be audited and certified in order to control the quality and dynamism of the knowledge generated in the organization, will enable the partner organizations (customers, suppliers and lenders) to determine the capacity for innovation, and verify the conformity of their management parameters, compared to a reference standard. Considered this conceptualization, Matos and Lopes (2009), proposed a methodology to audit intellectual capital management, which has been refined through several researches. This paper summarizes the results obtained with one of these researches. Using the biplot methodology (Gabriel, 1971) it was possible to reconfirm the proposed methodology. It shows that development degree of intellectual capital can be audited in a credible way, using this methodology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers an exploratory study which presents some initial insight to the little-researched phenomenon of how Knowledge Management Systems (KMSs) are utilised in organisations and, in particular, analyses the perceived value of using KMSs in supporting Decision Making (DM) processes in organisations. The paper summarises a preliminary study for a doctoral research project. A synthesis of ideas from a literature review suggested a new conceptual framework with several critical factors that organisations should take into account to analyse the perceived value of using KMSs in supporting DM processes. The proposed framework, "USUQ", focuses on the Usage, user Satisfaction, Usefulness of using KMSs and the Quality of DM processes. In order to validate the proposed framework, a questionnaire survey was designed and conducted with managers and decision makers from different sectors and at different levels of organisations which use KMSs tools to support DM processes. Overall, this study analyses the perceived value of using KMSs in supporting DM processes through using the USUQ framework. The analysis and findings have shown that there are different KMSs tools used in supporting DM processes at different levels. The most used tool is a search engine and the least used tool is the knowledge harvesting tool. Moreover, the study indicates that KMSs users are satisfied in relation to ease of use, accessibility and friendliness of using KMSs. Furthermore, most of participants perceive several different benefits of using KMSs in supporting DM processes. It indicates also that KMSs have different levels of significance in each step of the DM process, and that they are used to support operational decisions more than strategic and tactical decisions. Moreover, the study highlights that KMSs improve and create high quality decisions, and can support unstructured and semi-structured decisions as well. To conclude, this study provides a fresh perspective on the issue of using KMSs in supporting DM processes in organisations. The study supports, the USUQ conceptual framework but more data is needed to fully validate the framework. This study offers insights in analysing the usage of KMSs in supporting DM processes in organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing workforce is a global phenomenon. By 2016, the number of workers aged 60-65 are expected to double in Australia. An ageing workforce highlights amongst social, economic and fiscal impacts, the greatest challenge to organisations in their ability to retain and use their knowledge for continued competitive advantage and sustainability. Organisations in order to compete in this warfront of being successful, need to understand what is their central knowledge factor(s) that has made them successful in the past, and will continue to be competitive and successful in the future. Organisations will have the challenge of discovering and ensuring that the knowledge of wisdom that was the spell of their success does not exit them, with the slow but sure seismic shift in labour, as the ageing workforce depart. Building a collaborative knowledge system has slowly gained credence in organisations. Organisations are realizing the crucial role of employees in their interaction, skills and engagement and the different "knows" that has denoted a productive workforce and organisational success. The next step for knowledge management perhaps is arguably the economic foresight challenges of the chaotic workforce demographic changes that needs to bring about managing organisational wisdom knowledge in this knowledge-era. Knowledge management needs to provide some comfort for industries and organisations that are facing the ageing workforce crisis. Wisdom can be defined as the "power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding, etc (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 1997, p1533). This insightful description needs to be captured and retained for future transfer and collaborative use. After all, it is the agency of humans who bring their individual subjectivity and passion as knowledge and wisdom and make that contribution towards organisational success. The paper cites examples of organisations from two different industries in Australia which are facing this ageing phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is create interest and discussions amongst knowledge management scholars to not stop at knowledge management and to look at the next step of organisational wisdom and associate it with knowledge management and understand what wisdom is and how it can be managed, if at all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the light of the numerous cross-references on the role of knowledge and innovation in their respective definitions, one might expect that these research strands would be explored almost in parallel. Yet, the synchronous investigation of knowledge and innovation in management studies constitutes the exception rather than the rule. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the relationship of knowledge and innovation, following a practice-based perspective and shifting the focus to a mediating role of practice, while distanciating ourselves from agent or structure dichotomies. We explore tensions between knowledge and innovation through the life cycle of a small company's business model development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the unstable and dynamic business environment, knowledge, and mechanism of knowledge sharing are playing a critical and inevitable role in the processes of organizational learning, growth, development, and change. In addition to this organizational creativity, the fundamental component for the process of innovation that led to enhancing value creation processes and creating the organization's comparative advantage. Moreover, the employee empowerment or empowered employee is considered as one of the most consequential elements of human resource management in the organization and has a crucial role in the creative thinking processes. The main purpose of this study is to describe and examine the role of knowledge sharing in reinforcing organizational creativity. The study has analyzed the role of knowledge sharing on organizational creativity through the mediating role of employee empowerment, moreover, this paper is declaring that empowered employees are capable of being creative thinkers and that will be the most significant component for developing organizational creativity. The method of this research is based on positivism philosophy; the Quantitative research method was applied in this research. The research is divided into two main parts: the theoretical part and the empirical part. The theoretical part consists of the deep literature review on knowledge and knowledge sharing, employee empowerment, and organizational creativity. For the empirical part, the researcher used the questionnaire on a group of professors and specialists. The questionnaire was founded to be the most suitable instrument to obtain the necessary data empowerment. The hypothesis has been tested and the outcome of the study clarified that there is powerful evidence that the independent variable (knowledge sharing), has a statistically significant positive impact on the dependent variable (organizational creativity) with the mediating role of employee empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's globalized world, for firms to keep up with the competition and make ever greater profits, innovation is essential. Therefore, firms are looking for new ways to innovate as efficiently and quickly as possible, at the lower or same costs. Knowledge is seen as the critical determinant of successful innovation because it could lead to knowledge spillover effects. These occur inside as well as outside the firm boundary, depending on several different factors. These are, for example, the openness of firms, absorptive capacity, firm policy in protecting internal know-how, and many others. Similarly, the acquisition of external technologies was recognized as an essential method to create innovations and achieve higher economic returns. Therefore, in the era of open innovation, the ability of firms to effectively use external resources (knowledge and technology) is crucial, especially in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). These countries have not always been able to benefit from external knowledge sources successfully and thus lag behind other European countries, among other things, in the areas of innovation and competitiveness. It is since CEE countries have faced (in comparison with Western European countries) to several challenges. For example, the worse technological equipment of companies, less advanced research and innovation systems and networks, lower trust, entrepreneurial skills, and spirit, due to the broken entrepreneurial tradition. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the influence of external knowledge and technology acquisition on firms' product and process innovation performance within selected CEE countries. Namely, we focus on the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Poland. For this study, we are using our own binary logistic regression models and data provided by the World Bank – latest available Enterprise Survey 2019. The results of our research will provide several practical implications for firms and public policymakers in selected countries, but also in other CEE countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to review how COBIT5 can be used to evaluate an organization's knowledge, knowledge sharing and levels of knowledge management during due diligence. Prior to making a final decision on a merger or acquisition, investors generally conduct a due diligence. In addition to finance, capital, law and real estate domains, due diligence also includes a review of information systems and human resources. This paper seeks to evaluate how the use of COBIT5 (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology) can enhance the due diligence for knowledge management and knowledge evaluation within the company. For this study, we conducted due diligence on two Slovenian companies using the COBIT5 framework for knowledge, knowledge sharing and knowledge management evaluation. This empirical research was in a form of a case study, which involved a qualitative approach (interviews with key stakeholders in both companies), and the use of self-assessment which were completed by management with the companies. The results of our study indicate clearly that COBIT5 can be effectively used as an approach to assess an organization's knowledge management during due diligence. In addition to our case study, this paper presents a review of current papers on knowledge and knowledge management evaluation, a description of COBIT5 framework and our hypothesis. In the discussion issues regarding tacit knowledge evaluation with COBIT5 are explained and in conclusion, additional activities to enhance the approach are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informatization of society allows (technically) new possibilities for knowledge sharing between individuals. With the support of new information and communication technology, it leads to "objectification" of knowledge; i.e. its objectification or separation from the individual, which allows to share and to manage the "knowledge". The paper combines narrative with arguments and analysis. The aim of the paper is to critically discuss and emphasise the individual nature of human knowledge and to highlight its role (meaning) in the process of interpretation of information or the real phenomena. The explanation is based on the knowledge of information science, system science and modern approaches in information and knowledge management. It presents the system view with an accent on the mutual understanding of the relations between the studied phenomena and processes. The fact that the individual nature of knowledge is not appreciated brings negative consequences. The current trend towards the instrumentalization of education and knowledge doesn't contribute to it, on the contrary, informatization often positively supports it. Unprecedented data availability allowed through the internet enhances a false idea of the information literacy and the inutility of using the critical thinking. Many individuals can take up with the passive acceptance of mass media interpretation. This is related to the resignation on the development of knowledge, because everyone can find everything on the internet. People forget that a certain quota of knowledge is necessary to create a frame of contemplation and thinking. Instrumentalization of education leads to a quasi-utilitarian "practical orientation", where the "unnecessary" humanities and general education are relegated to the background. In a society that calls itself a "knowledge society", the knowledge itself disappears because it is degraded to fragments/pieces of knowledge that are usable in practice - and the knowledge as a whole loses its value. This paper analyses the negative implications of the information age and discusses it. Thanks to the system view on the area, the paper presents critical reflections of the current situation. The authors of this paper consider a very actual and crucial question about problems associated with the sharing of knowledge. They critically present the phenomenon of knowledge sharing from an untraditional point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge management is inevitably related to decisions about the priority areas it can be applied to. Today, these areas, to a great extent, are conditioned by global trends, such as the increased attention to innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR). The links between innovation and corporate social responsibility can emerge as a result of the implementation of different types of innovation and the application of different principles of responsibility, thus bringing to enterprises and communities more than a plain summative utility. The synthesis of innovation- and CSR-activities can foster technological development and contribute to the cherishment of natural and socio-cultural environment that gives origins to the enterprises' resources. However, the relationship between innovation and corporate social responsibility remains underexplored. Though some links have already been identified, yet it is not clear which dimensions of CSR are related to which types of innovation, and how this two-sided knowledge converges into one fruitful whole. Therefore, the paper is aimed at the revelation of the relationship between innovation- and CSR-activities in the context of knowledge management. The empirical evidence was based on the case study of an ice-cream producer, and the data assessment and analysis include field study, analysis of the enterprise's annual reports, as well as half-structured interviews with top managers of the structural units of the company. As a result, the dimensions of corporate social responsibility were related with the types of innovation, thus revealing how a creative synthesis of varied knowledge leads to the growth of competitiveness and effectiveness, as well as to the increase in public good for the interested parties. The paper is original in its attempt to reveal the value that is generated as a result of the integration of knowledge on the increasingly popular trends (i.e., innovation and sustainability) by the ice-cream producer into its activities. Besides, the scholarly contribution in the shape of the revelation of the links between certain dimensions of corporate social responsibility and types of innovation is also relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]