Sven A. Carlsson

Knowledge Management Research & Practice: Visions and Directions

This editorial paper outlines key directions for knowledge management research and practice. The editorial team presents the results from a small survey of academics and practitioners about the present and future of knowledge management, and the editors include their own informed views on how this journal can help promote scholarly inquiry in the field.

Socio-technical IS design science research: developing design theory for IS integration management

Design science research is an essential part of IS research since the field should not only try to understand how the world is, but also how to change it. We argue that the aim of IS design science research should be to develop practical knowledge not only for the design of novel information technology (IT), but also for IS governance and management. Whereas at least some methodological support exists for researchers engaged in IT-centric design science research, limited support is available for researchers who want to develop design knowledge and theory for IS governance and management. To overcome this shortcoming, we suggest a socio-technical IS design science research approach. The approach has four main activities: (1) identifying problem situations and desired outcomes, (2) reviewing extant theories, knowledge and data, (3) proposing/refining design theory and knowledge, and (4) testing design theory and knowledge. The applicability and usefulness of the proposed approach is shown by means of a design science research project concerning IS integration management in the context of mergers and acquisitions.

Design exemplars for synchronous e-learning: A design theory approach

Synchronous e-learning has received much less research attention, as compared with asynchronous e-learning. Practitioners that consider using and designing synchronous e-learning are in urgent need of guidance. In order to address this need, we propose design exemplars for synchronous e-learning. They are directed towards a primary constituent community of teachers, administrators, managers and developers of e-learning. The exemplars have been theoretically as well as empirically grounded through cross-case analyses of studies conducted between 2003 and 2006. Moreover, the exemplars have been evaluated by conducting focus group sessions with experienced practitioners having experience of using and developing e-learning. Strong support was identified for each design exemplar. The exemplars can be used as research hypotheses and be tested in future design research.

Understanding shared knowledge creation spaces around business processes: precursors to process innovation implementation

The thesis of this paper is that the implementation success of process innovations is facilitated by having an organisational environment that is conducive to effective shared knowledge creation around the process that is being improved. The paper describes a research study to better understand shared knowledge creation around business processes by developing a model of shared knowledge spaces that includes catalysts, organisational values, information technology infrastructure, and SKC processes. The context used is the new product development process in two high technology companies in Finland. Findings are presented and implications for creating effective shared knowledge creation environments are drawn. The paper ends with a call for creating such spaces as precursors to process innovation implementation.

Design Science Research in Information Systems: A Critical Realist Approach

Information systems (IS) research has serious utilization and relevance problems. To increase IS research utilization and relevance, scholars argue that the dominating behavioral IS research paradigm should be complemented with IS design science research. The most influential IS design science research schools have a strong focus on the IT artifact, in most cases an exclusive focus on the IT artifact. The schools have very little discussions and clarifications regarding underpinning philosophies, but most seem to be based on positivism, traditional realism, or pragmatism. This chapter presents, as a complement to the most influential design science research schools, an alternative approach for IS design science research. The approach builds on the premise that one of the most critical aims of IS design science research is to develop practical knowledge for the design and realization of different classes of IS initiatives, where IS are viewed as socio-technical systems and not just IT artifacts. The underpinning philosophy of the approach is critical realism which has been developed as an alternative to positivism and traditional realism as well as to constructivism (relativism). The developed practical IS design knowledge can be represented in different forms, for example, as heuristic design propositions, design exemplars and patterns, models or frameworks, and stories or narratives. The IS design knowledge can be developed using different methods and techniques. The chapter presents how practical IS design knowledge can be developed as well as the nature of the developed knowledge.

The DySIIM Model for managing IS integration in mergers and acquisitions

Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&As) are prominent means for corporate strategy. In many M&As information systems (IS), integration is critical for achieving the intended goals. By integrating previous research on M&A and IS integration, we develop a six‐dimensional theoretical framework for IS integration in corporate M&As. The framework is used to describe and explain IS integration management in four M&As. Based on the four cases, the theoretical framework and the existing literature, an initial model (Dynamic System of IS Integration in M&A, DySIIM) describing and explaining how IS integration relates to the M&A process is developed. Through the combination of the DySIIMs dimensions, the dynamics of different parts of the M&A process are captured. The model can be used in further research to build cumulative knowledge about how to manage IS integration in M&A. The model can also be used by companies in their M&A since through the combination of dimensions, it shows the IS integration issues, decisions and actions that a company has to address in the process.

Decision Support through Knowledge Management

This chapter explores the role of knowledge management for decision support. Traditional decision support focused on provision of analytical tools for calculating optimal solution for the decision problems. The modern approach to decision support assumes greater autonomy for the decision maker. The role of the system is in assisting a decision maker in finding relevant information, which the decision maker can convert to actionable knowledge by making sense of the problem situation. This requires the decision support system (DSS) to have an extended functionality for supporting knowledge work, including memory aids, explanation facilities, and some learning capability. DSSs supporting such functionality can be equally termed “knowledge management systems.” This chapter explores how decision support systems and knowledge management evolved in recent years. It identifies complementary features that these two fields furnish in supporting users to improve their abilities as intelligent knowledge workers. It argues that although these areas originated from different philosophical premises, computerized knowledge management has decision support as a core focus; at the same time, decision support systems will benefit if built with knowledge management functionality in mind. We suggest calling such systems “knowledge work support systems” emphasising the major focus of modern technology as a mediator between the user and the cognitive requirements of the task he or she needs to perform. We also explore some design principles for such systems following a design science approach.

Permanent and Temporary Work Practices: Knowledge Integration and the Meaning of Boundary Activities

Knowledge integration is a critical topic in current knowledge management research and practice. Research on this topic focuses primarily on how knowledge is integrated within a work setting. A less researched area is knowledge integration between different work groups. The purpose is hence to describe and analyze how knowledge is integrated between different work groups. We present two intensive case studies – one permanent and one temporary (project) work settings – which were studied using a practice-based perspective. A main result of the study is that knowledge integration in the two cases was more complicated than the literature suggests. Both differences and similarities were found between the two cases. Differences were seen in the use of boundary spanning activities and boundary objects, whereas similarities were found in the organizational structures and mechanisms, that is, purposes, rules, and infrastructures, which facilitated the integration of knowledge and/or functioned as obstacles and impediments.

Towards a theory of executive information systems

Individual and organizational effectiveness is a central construct for many computer-based support systems for top-level managers and executives. It is suggested that the recent development of an effectiveness construct has made it a possible framework for understanding executive information systems (EIS). The authors present and discuss the use of the competing values framework of organizational effectiveness that has been developed by R. Quinn and his associates (1983, 1988). They then map different types of information systems into this framework and use it to explicate the concept of EIS. They also discuss implications of this perspective for design and research.<<ETX>>

Managing the Five Tensions of IT-Enabled Decision Support in Turbulent and High Velocity Environments

This chapter examines issues concerned with supporting managers and organizations with information and communication technologies as they decide and act in turbulent and high-velocity environments. In particular, the chapter identifies five key tensions in this context: (1) the tension between the need for quick decisions and the need for analytical decision processes; (2) the tension involving managerial need for action and the need for the safest execution of decisions that may be bold and risky; (3) the tension around empowering middle managers and management teams at various organizational levels in the midst of powerful and impatient top executives; (4) the tension between programmed, quick-action learning loops and the increased requirement for emergence and improvisation; and (5) the tension between expending effort to eliminate the digital divide with other organizations versus finding expedient ways to communicate through heterogeneous digital infrastructures. Each of the tensions, and how it can be managed, is illustrated through a case example. The chapter ends by suggesting that the management of these critical tensions needs to be fused into the day-to-day fabric of management practices for decision support processes.