Andrew N. K. Chen

Assessing value in organizational knowledge creation: considerations for knowledge workers

To maintain competitive advantage, a firms investment decisions related to knowledge creation are likely to be strategic in nature. However, strategic investments usually have an element of risk linked to uncertain and deferred investment benefits. To date, such investment decisions relating to knowledge workers have not been extensively researched. In this paper, we explore the following research question: How do we strategically assess knowledge creation over time giving consideration to complex decision criteria in order to improve organizational value? We develop a model based on economic and organization theory for assessing organizational value with regard to knowledge creation investments. Our model prototype provides managers with a learning tool relating to the timing and selection of knowledge creation investments. Our own use of the tool in simulation experiments yielded several insights which suggest that the decisions typically made by managers may dilute knowledge creation investments. Our results demonstrate that the organizational benefit of knowledge creation processes should be well aligned with near-term tasks. Under instances of high knowledge depreciation, however, it is unlikely that individual workers can optimize knowledge creation process decisions without organizational involvement in matching skills to task complexities. The organizational benefits of consistent and frequent knowledge creation process participation increase over time as the match of skills and task complexities improve.

Measurement and sources of overall and input inefficiencies: Evidences and implications in hospital services

Abstract Traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) focuses exclusively on measuring the overall efficiency of a decision making unit (DMU). Yet, variables that have explanatory power for the overall operational inefficiency of a DMU may not necessarily be the same as those that affect its individual input inefficiencies. On many occasions, variables that explain the overall inefficiency of a DMU can be inconsistent or incongruent with those that cause its individual input inefficiencies. Therefore, we conjecture that an overall inefficiency score alone may have limited value for decision making since such a process requires fine-tuning and adjustments of specific input factors of the DMU in order to maximize its overall efficiency. In this paper, the utilization and financial data of a set of hospitals in California is used to empirically test the above conjecture. Our study has several important contributions and practical implications. First, we fine-tune previous efficiency measures on hospitals by refining input and output measures. Second, with variables on organization, management, demographics, and market competition, we identify specific factors associated with a hospitals overall operational inefficiency. More importantly, by decomposing the overall DEA operational inefficiency score into different individual input inefficiencies (including slacks), we further identify specific variables that cause individual input inefficiency. Third, significant differences are observed among factors of the overall inefficiency and individual input inefficiencies. These findings have important implications for identifying congruent factors for performance standard setting and evaluation; it also provides invaluable information for guiding effective resource allocation and better decision making for improving hospital operational efficiency.

Strategies for effective web services adoption for dynamic e-businesses

Web services hold the promise for the so-called dynamic e-business movement. Currently, many organizations are either in the process of adopting Web services technology or seriously evaluating this option. One of the major concerns of senior management in this endeavor is the cost of adopting Web services. In this paper, a model is proposed to evaluate an organizations position in a technology adoption space by evaluating its current level of information technology (IT) sophistication. The model identifies critical factors necessary for the successful adoption of Web services technology along three dimensions--intranet, extranet, and Internet. A simulation experiment is conducted to find the most cost-effective strategy for allocating resources to pursue Web services adoption. Alternative strategies are evaluated under three scenarios with different combinations of significance levels (weights) and diffusion levels of the critical factors. Our results suggest that different strategies should be employed, while organizations consider their existing organizational IT status and focus area. This study provides useful guidelines for management to utilize available resources effectively in the process of adopting Web services technology.

Knowledge Life Cycle, Knowledge Inventory, and Knowledge Acquisition Strategies*

For a knowledge and skill centric organization, the process of knowledge management encompasses three important and closely related elements: (i) task assignments, (ii) knowledge acquisition through training, and finally (iii) maintaining proper level of knowledge inventory among the existing workforce. Tradeoff on choices between profit maximization in the short run and agility and flexibility in the long term is a vexing problem in knowledge management. In this study, we examine effects of different training strategies on short-term operational efficiency and long-term workforce flexibility. We address our research objective by developing a computational model for task and training assignment in a dynamic knowledge environment consisting of multiple distinct knowledge dimensions. Overall, we find that organizational slack is an important variable in determining the effectiveness of training strategies. Training strategies focused on the most recent skills are found to be the preferable option in most of the considered scenarios. Interestingly, increased efficiencies in training can actually create preference conflict between employees and the firm. Our findings indicate that firms facing longer knowledge lifecycles, higher slack in workforce capacity and better training efficiencies actually face more difficult challenges in knowledge management.

Robust optimization for performance tuning of modern database systems

Abstract Issues regarding design and management of database systems have been studied by applying operations research (OR) techniques. The purpose of this study is to propose a new alternative towards database performance tuning for query-processing needs of modern database systems from the perspective of operations research using robust optimization. We use a query-driven approach to specify database structures (schema) so that they are robust to uncertainty and dynamics of queries in a changing environment and allow fast and timely information retrieval and exchange. Instead of applying hardware tuning or traditional database tuning techniques, we examine queries by their types and properties to derive database structures that are robust at efficiently processing future queries of any type. This query-driven approach improves the efficiency of processing queries by setting up database structures based on the queries’ information needs. This new methodology provides a new approach of tuning database performance that is robust to unexpected changes and dynamics. To further demonstrate the idea, we develop a robust optimization model using a non-linear von Neumann–Morgenstern expected utility function and present two computational examples.

Heuristics for selecting robust database structures with dynamic query patterns

The success of a company increasingly depends on timely information (internal or external) being available to the right person at the right time for crucial managerial decision-making. Achieving such a ‘‘right time/right place’’ duet depends directly on database performance. A database system has been a core component that supports modern business system such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that integrates and supports all enterprise processes including product designing and engineering, manufacturing, and other business functions to achieve highest efficiency and effectiveness of operations. We develop and demonstrate through a proof-of-concept case study, a new ‘‘query-driven’’ heuristics for database design that seeks to identify database structures that perform robustly in dynamic settings with dynamic queries. Our focus is the design of efficient structures to process read-only queries in complex environments. Our heuristics begins with detailed analysis of relationships between diverse queries and the performance of different database structures. These relationships are then used in a series of steps that identify ‘‘robust’’ database structures that maintain high performance levels for a wide range of query patterns. We conjecture that our heuristics can facilitate efficient operations and effective decision-making of companies in todays dynamic environment. � 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Organizing knowledge workforce for specified iterative software development tasks

Organizing knowledge workers for specific tasks in a software development process is critical for the success of software projects. Assigning workforce in software projects represents a dynamic and complex problem that concerns the utilization of cross-trained knowledge workers who possess different productivities and error tendencies in coding and defect correction. This complexity is further compounded when the development process follows a software release life cycle and involves major releases of alpha, beta, and final versions in the context of iterative software development. We study this knowledge workforce problem from three essential project management perspectives: (1) timeliness - obtaining shortest development time; (2) effectiveness - satisfying budget constraint; and (3) efficiency - achieving high workforce utilization. We explore ideal workforce composites with two strategic focuses on productivity and quality and with different scenarios of workload ratios. An analytical model is formulated and a meta-heuristic approach based on particle swarm optimization is used to derive solutions in a simulation experiment. Our findings suggest that forming an ideal workforce composite is a non-trivial task and task assignments with divergent focuses for software projects under different workload scenarios require different planning strategies. Practical implications are drawn from our findings to provide insight on effectively planning workforce for software projects with specific goals and considerations.

Managing user relationships in hierarchies for information system security

Hierarchies are an important concept in information protection systems. The uses of hierarchies in the security domain of computer information systems include access hierarchies, levels of abstraction in security kernels, multi-level security, and user hierarchies, among others. Using user hierarchies as an example, this paper proposes a new protection mechanism to achieve the key-to-key (KTK) security policy wherein each user in the hierarchy is assigned a key pair and the relationship between any two users can be revealed through an operation on their corresponding keys. In addition to the security provided by the policy, the new mechanism manifests several advantages over the previous methods in the literature. Among its merits are (1) simple and quick operations performed to determine user relationships, (2) less storage requirements, and (3) a high degree of dynamism that allows easy addition and deletion of user keys without affecting most of the existing keys in the user hierarchy. The relevance of the new KTK scheme to organizations and its implications for potential business applications are also discussed.

A Query-Driven Approach to the Design and Management of Flexible Database Systems

The need for timely information in the e-business world provides the impetus to develop a flexible database system with the capability to adapt and maintain performance levels under changing queries and changing business environments. Recognizing the importance of providing fast access to a variety of read-only applications in todays e-business world, we introduce the systems architecture for developing and implementing a flexible database system to achieve considerable gains in processing times of read queries. The key component of a flexible database system is query mining, the concept of determining relationships among query properties, alternative database structures, and query processing times. We validate the flexible database system concept through extensive laboratory experiments, where we embed learning tools to demonstrate the implementation of query mining.The need for timely information in the e-business world provides the impetus to develop a flexible database system with the capability to adapt and maintain performance levels under changing queries and changing business environments. Recognizing the importance of providing fast access to a variety of read-only applications in todays e-business world, we introduce the systems architecture for developing and implementing a flexible database system to achieve considerable gains in processing times of read queries. The key component of a flexible database system is query mining, the concept of determining relationships among query properties, alternative database structures, and query processing times. We validate the flexible database system concept through extensive laboratory experiments, where we embed learning tools to demonstrate the implementation of query mining.

A model of Service-Oriented Architecture and firm/network performance

In this paper, we seek to lay a foundation for the analysis of the relationships between SOA and previously discovered antecedents to organisational performance. We review the fundamentals of SOA and the literature regarding IT and firm performance, and we present a research model for examining the impact of SOA and other firms resources/capabilities on the performance of a firm and a value network. Our analysis and propositions provide guidelines for future research and knowledge advancement in the area of SOA and IT business value.