Miguel Baptista Nunes

Knowledge management issues in knowledge‐intensive SMEs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a study of knowledge management understanding and usage in small and medium knowledge‐intensive enterprises.Design/methodology/approach – The study has taken an interpretitivist approach, using two knowledge‐intensive South Yorkshire (England) companies as case studies, both of which are characterised by the need to process and use knowledge on a daily basis in order to remain competitive. The case studies were analysed using qualitative research methodology, composed of interviews and concept mapping, thus deriving a characterisation of understandings, perceptions and requirements of SMEs in relation to knowledge management.Findings – The study provides evidence that, while SMEs, including knowledge intensive ones, acknowledge that adequately capturing, storing, sharing and disseminating knowledge can lead to greater innovation and productivity, their managers are not prepared to invest the relatively high effort on long term knowledge management goals fo...

Risk management practices in IS outsourcing: an investigation into commercial banks in Nigeria

This research work focuses on the risk management practices adopted by Commercial Banks in Nigeria that are related to the outsourcing of information systems (IS). The need for the research emerged from the lack of studies addressing these problems in developing countries in general and in this country in particular. The research reported in this paper shows that despite the globally increasing trend of IS outsourcing in the sector, Nigerian commercial banks are lacking in both strategic and operational risk management practices. Consequently, they are especially prone to the adoption inappropriate IS solutions and are vulnerable to IS failure and fraud. The research is empirically based drawing on an extensive literature and case study review as well as an extensive survey of banks in Nigeria. The main method of data collection was a questionnaire sent to 15 commercial banks, which was aimed at respondents in three distinct categories: executive management, systems managers and users. The analysis of the data included both a quantitative and an inductive qualitative approach. The latter was used to draw inferences on the current situation. The findings revealed that managers of commercial banks understand the nature of IS outsourcing and that they all agreed that adopting risk management practices is important. Nevertheless, the situation is critical. A significant proportion of the commercial banks have no documented and structured outsourcing strategy or policy; consequently no programme or procedural guidance is available at any level. The study also discovered that contrary to practice in developed countries, the regulatory authorities in Nigeria have not formulated substantive guidelines or procedural rules to be adopted nationally by commercial banks.

Developing Innovation in Online Learning : An Action Research Framework

1. Action Research in Online Learning 2. An Action Research Framework for Online Learning 3. Pedagogical Models 4. Design and Development of Online Learning Environments 5. Tutoring and Delivering Online Learning 6. Evaluation 7. Action Research and Future Practice

Organisational Issues for E-Learning: Critical Success Factors as Identified by HE Practitioners

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project that identified organisational critical success factors (CSFs) for e‐learning implementation in higher education (HE). These CSFs can be used as a theoretical foundation upon which to base decision‐making and strategic thinking about e‐learning.Design/methodology/approach – The project reported in this paper adopted a critical research approach aiming at proposing strategies derived from a holistic, consultative and emancipatory perspective. Bearing this perspective, the researchers drew inspiration from CSF management theory. Organisational analysis using CSFs is an established management research method as a means of identifying the essential elements that need to be addressed in order for change processes to be effective. The specific data collection method adopted was focus group interviews.Findings – The data analysis from focus group interviews with practitioners, administrators and academics revealed 66 CSFs divided into four cl...

Supporting decision making in risk management through an evidence‐based information systems project risk checklist

Purpose – This paper aims to present a study of Information Systems project risk management aimed at identifying a risk ontology and checklist that will enable decision making and mitigation strategy planning in information system (IS) development in the public sector. This sector is an ideal research field in risk management practices, due to the visibility that failure of IS/IT projects has acquired as a consequence of the duty of accountability that characterises it.Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a qualitative approach anchored on a critical literature review, leading to the development of an analytical framework, followed by a thorough case‐study survey.Findings – A project risk ontology was derived from the analysis of ten case‐studies in the UK, USA and New Zealand and was divided into five main categories: pre‐project, customer, project management, technological issues, and development methodology. The analysis found that a considerable number of risk factors are incurred befor...

Risks affecting ERP post‐implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify, assess and explore potential risks that can affect long‐term viability of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in the post‐implementation and exploitation phase.Design/methodology/approach – The research took a large Chinese private group as a case study. A theoretical ERP risk ontology, which was adopted from the literature, was used to frame the study and generate data collection tools. Two questionnaires were thus designed and used to explore ERP post‐implementation risks in the case company.Findings – The study identified 37 risk events, of which seven were identified as the most critical for ERP exploitation in the case company. The findings show that organisational and human‐related risks are the crucial factors for potential ERP failure and not the usually suspect technical risks.Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the knowledge of ERP in general, and provides valuable insights into ERP post‐implementation risks in ...

Educational informatics: an emerging research agenda

This paper discusses educational informatics as a research field and provides an overview of the scope of work in this, and closely related, areas by members of the Department of Information Studies at the University of Sheffield. Current work in Sheffield focuses on the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in universities and schools, seeking to understand the effects of using ICTs in educational practice on learners, teachers and learning support staff. It also seeks to develop practical knowledge of relevance to the design and facilitation of ICT-enabled learning environments. The paper highlights the interdisciplinary nature of this research, and discusses theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches that are being used by Sheffield researchers. It concludes by suggesting that library and information science has a distinctive contribution to make to the study of ICT-enabled learning, and that there is a need for further discussion within the literature of this emergent field of inquiry.

Constructivism vs. objectivism: where is difference for designers of e-learning environments?

We discuss different philosophical views of learning and the consequences of these different epistemologies on the design of online learning environments. Academic learning is proposed as a process of constructing knowledge and the development of reflexive awareness, where the individual is an active processor of information and is therefore proposed as a constructivist process. However, the pragmatic constraints of learning and teaching in higher education (HE) institutions pose clear restrictions on the use of pure constructivism. In fact, modularisation, semesterisation, accreditation needs, modes of assessment, as well as staff and financial limitations, mean that pure constructivist ideals are very difficult to implement and maintain at HE levels. Pedagogical models based on moderate constructivist approaches rooted and constrained by practice, may provide designers and educationalists with more useful and applicable approaches.

Identifying knowledge sharing barriers in the collaboration of traditional and western medicine professionals in Chinese hospitals: A case study

This paper reports on a research project that aims at identifying knowledge sharing (KS) barriers between traditional and western medicine practitioners co-existing and complementing each other in Chinese healthcare organisations. The study focuses on the tacit aspects of patient knowledge, rather than the traditional technical information shared through patient records. The project adopted a grounded theory approach as the overarching methodology to guide the analysis of data collected in a single case-study research design. A public hospital in central China was selected as the case-study site, at which 49 professionals were interviewed by using semi-structured and evolving interview scripts. The research findings reveal four main categories of KS barriers, namely philosophical divergence, interprofessional tensions, lack of interprofessional common ground, and insufficient interprofessional education and training. The conclusion advocates the establishment of top-down policies for mutual understanding and the creation of an interprofessional common ground between the two types of healthcare professionals. It is proposed that these policies should have two strands. The first strand should be at the grass roots of Chinese Healthcare Higher Education and should actively introduce complementary teaching and practice in these programmes. The second strand should take place in the hospital environment, through interprofessional dialogue, seminars and teamwork, as well as professional training. This paper contributes to the fields of KS and interprofessional collaboration in healthcare heterogeneous groups.

Interrelated Barriers and Risks Affecting ERP Post-Implementation in China

The research reported in this paper aimed to identify and explore potential barriers and risks that can affect successful exploitation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in Chinese companies. A barrier and risk ontology was established from a critical literature review process. In order to examine this theoretical model, the study employed a deductive research design based on a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The survey received 84 responses from 42 Chinese firms. The findings identified that organizational barriers are often the main triggers of other ERP barriers and risks, including the system ones. The study thus concluded and suggested that Chinese companies need to pay substantial attention to the organizational barriers identified, since properly managing this type of obstacle may potentially help them to mitigate and remove other ERP challenges and risks and thus ensuring long-term success in ERP post-adoption.