Tereza Otčenášková

A proposal for a computer-based framework of support for public health in the management of biological incidents: the Czech Republic experience

Aims: Biological incidents jeopardising public health require decision-making that consists of one dominant feature: complexity. Therefore, public health decision-makers necessitate appropriate support. Methods: Based on the analogy with business intelligence (BI) principles, the contextual analysis of the environment and available data resources, and conceptual modelling within systems and knowledge engineering, this paper proposes a general framework for computer-based decision support in the case of a biological incident. At the outset, the analysis of potential inputs to the framework is conducted and several resources such as demographic information, strategic documents, environmental characteristics, agent descriptors and surveillance systems are considered. Results: Consequently, three prototypes were developed, tested and evaluated by a group of experts. Their selection was based on the overall framework scheme. Subsequently, an ontology prototype linked with an inference engine, multi-agent-based model focusing on the simulation of an environment, and expert-system prototypes were created. Conclusions: All prototypes proved to be utilisable support tools for decision-making in the field of public health. Nevertheless, the research revealed further issues and challenges that might be investigated by both public health focused researchers and practitioners.

A Review of Obstacles to Successful e-Learning Deployment in SMEs

E-Learning as an advanced form of learning supported by various technological principles and tools became a point of interest of both academicians and practitioners several years ago. Current literature contains mostly successful stories of its utilization in the business environment highlighting processes and decisions which should be done and make. Rarely are mentioned negative experiences related processes and decision that should not be realized. Hence, it is difficult to fully and explicitly define related bottlenecks or pitfalls. The aim of this paper is to assemble particular fragments and provide readers with a summary of general barriers of e-Learning implementation in small and medium-sized organizations together with recommendations how these barriers can be overcome. Therefore, this position paper provides basic literature overview of conditions and barriers to successful e-Learning implementation in the business settings. The investigation of published case studies reveals that there are several barriers, which need to be taken into the consideration to support fruitful usage of e-Learning technologies in the workplace. Furthermore, suggestions of potential activities that may contribute to coping with these barriers are depicted.

Self-assessment of intellectual capital in an organisation: Inclusion of internal view, dynamics, and topicality

Purpose Intellectual capital represents an integral part of evaluation in many companies. Applied methods do not consider three crucial aspects of intellectual capital, which are up-to-date research topics, dynamic nature, and internal perspective. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to propose a novel intellectual capital self-evaluation method, addressing this issue. Design/methodology/approach Analysis of topics is based on collocation, correspondence, and co-occurrence analyses. Method construction stage is grounded in knowledge processes and deploys a panel of expert evaluations, Saaty’s decision matrix, based on pairwise comparison and the stakeholders’ estimates. Findings A new method for evaluation enables complex internal view on the status of intellectual capital in an organisation, as it is based on up-to-date research topics, a self-evaluation approach, and the dynamics of knowledge processes. Research limitations/implications The list of applied criteria is extendable, and the set weights are adjusted. Estimates are subjective in their nature. Provided results are tied with the specifics of self-evaluated organisations and cannot be used for inter-organisational comparison. Practical implications Presented system enables organisational self-evaluation, focussed on the complex and dynamic internal view, based on up-to-date topics. Despite the limitations, this self-evaluation can be conducted for various types of economic systems. Originality/value Proposed method is patterned on the current research topics and offers dynamic- and internal-oriented approach to self-evaluation of intellectual capital status.

Organisational Culture and Knowledge sharing in the Czech Settings: A Survey- based Pragmatic Review

Knowledge sharing represents one of the main knowledge processes intensively studied and developed by both academicians and practitioners. This process is apparently influenced by many factors, where organisational culture possesses a leading position. Therefore, this manuscript analyses the mutual interrelationship between corporate culture and knowledge dissemination within organisations. Organisational frameworks and corporate culture classifications are reviewed based on their inherent compatibility with knowledge sharing. This discussion further elaborates a recent study and its findings focused on the knowledge management experience in the Czech Republic and knowledge sharing practices in selected Czech universities. The main objective of the paper is to emphasise selected questions associated with a knowledge sharing culture and open debate on these issues.

The Emergence of Public Intelligence: Penetration of Business Intelligence into the Public Administration Realm

The current organisations face the challenge to gain and sustain the competitive advantage. The Business Intelligence tools support the organisational processes and enhance their efficiency. Nevertheless, these still have not penetrated to satisfactorily extent to the public administration realm. Therefore, this paper introduces the framework focused on the Business Intelligence implementation in the public administration. Firstly, the basic concepts linked with Big Data and Business Intelligence are described. Afterwards, the specific characteristics of public administration are considered. Finally, the practical model of Business Intelligence in context of the discussed issues is provided.

A Swap of Perspectives: Data Migration and Knowledge Management as Mutually Interrelated Disciplines

Development of business environment is strongly influenced by quick penetration of information technologies (IT) into all organizational processes. This process generates several problems, which single organizations need to cope with. A specific problem is closely related to vast amount of data which is produced every day, processed to valuable information and consequently applied during decision-making processes. There are several reasons, such as progress in business informatics and the IT industry in general, that lead to necessity to change the used IT system completely. This change is accompanied by the requirement of data migration. This process is performed only occasionally, therefore the lack of experience can cause troubles such as lost data or its low usability in the new system. On the other hand, knowledge management offers tools and methods how to preserve experience and lessons learned and hence avoid several pitfalls of the data migration process. The paper investigates mutual interrelationship of two distinct areas, Data Migration processes and Knowledge Management programs. Basic facts together with various definitions and characteristics of both research topics are presented. The paper reveals that these are closely connected in terms of how data, information and knowledge should be created, enhanced and managed. Therefore, similarities and mutual features of both disciplines are outlined.

Principal Starting Points of Organisational Knowledge Intensity Modelling

Current business environment is highly competitive. Nevertheless, the organisations have to manage their activities and operate under such uncertain and hard conditions. It remains important that this environment can be identified not only at the organisational level, but also at the national level, where particular countries compete, and at the sub-organisational level, in which individual departments struggle to get required resources. In order to succeed, the knowledge intensity plays a significant role at all these levels. The knowledge intensity can be defined as an extent in which the knowledge processes are performed and knowledge resources are utilised. Therefore, the knowledge intensity represents an indicator that is worthy to be monitored. This paper deals with the theoretical fundaments of this concept and outlines three potential approaches to knowledge intensity measurement. Additive model, multiplicative, and incremental models of knowledge intensity are introduced in particular sections of this paper. The main implication of the mentioned research is to present the possibility how to increase the organisational effectiveness and competitiveness. Both the limitations of the knowledge intensity modelling and further research options are also discussed.