Ulrike Borchardt

Towards Value-Driven Alignment of KMS for SME

To be successful in business small and medium enterprises have to focus on the optimal utilization of their spare resources. IT - System are supposed to support this process, yet as shown by a survey and systematic literature analysis presented in this paper, by now the concept of KM is not widely established in SME nor are KMS fully integrated or aligned to business strategies. Within the limited resources of SME, the question of how the business value of a well integrated application suiting a SME’s objectives can be shown, has to be discussed. In this paper we present our suggestion on how this problem could be approached by using a framework based on the business values and KM dimensions to be able to determine the most effective KMS for a SME.

E-Learning Application Support for SME

E-learning is widely accepted as a method for knowledge transfer, however, this development is more focused on big enterprises than on small and medium enterprises (SME). These enterprises characterized by their limited resources and specific requirements, are in need for methods for knowledge transfer and need special software support to experience the advantages of e-learning. A short overview on the situation in SMEs, the needs of SMEs towards e-learning applications as well as a review of the solution of the TT Knowledge Force will be presented in this paper.

How to Identify the Relevant Elements of “Context” in Context-Aware Information Systems?

Context-awareness is a feature of more and more applications, which adds further requirements to be taken into account in the implementation process. Though accepted approaches for software development exist, no accepted way for the inclusion of context has been established yet. An essential part of developing context based systems is to analyze and conceptualize the elements of the specific context required for the application under development, including their dependencies and mechanism of use. This activity of context modeling forms an important part of the system’s specification, since it identifies relevant aspects of the application environment in a representation adequate for the modeling purpose. Within this paper we aim at closing this gap by introducing an approach for context modeling for the utilization in context-aware applications, providing a structure guiding through the process and illustrating it by examples as a reference for further projects.

Towards Value-Oriented Use of Social Media for Knowledge Management in SME

Social media is one of the current technology trends in use for marketing and communication, extending the possibilities for exchange among people. Yet, as every other technology using social media means effort for the organization using it. However, how can this effort being measured in the workload of a SME. To cover this we visited two SME introducing KM via social media and developed a concept to start KM. The obstacles and measures taken towards a value oriented KM with social media are documented in this paper, showing that a structured process helps and that there are still points missing to estimate the knowledge need to generate a full value oriented approach.

Multi-touch Table or Plastic Wall? Design of a Study for the Comparison of Media in Modeling

An important aspect of participatory enterprise modeling is the work in a group. However, does the collaboration of the group members change depending on which medium is used to generate the models? Are there for example differences in the group’s behavior when working with a plastic wall, similar to a whiteboard, or with a multi-touch table? Based on the state of research and theoretical foundations of group work as well as previous research, relevant research issues are raised and an experimental design will be described in order to examine possible differences in the group work depending on the medium. Relevant aspects will be forms of cooperation, i.e. verbal and nonverbal contributions of the participants, but also territorial behavior and group performance.

Determining and Evaluating the Benefits of KM Tool Support for SME

Though knowledge management (KM) and knowledge management systems (KMS) have been well established in organizations the question on how to evaluate the benefits to be gained from the use of such systems is still not finally resolved. Based on a complete case study showing how a KMS was introduced in a knowledge-intensive small enterprise in Germany this paper illustrates the operationalization of the KMS success model of (Jennex, Olfman, 2006) for its use in a SME. It shows the difficulties arising from the use of the model as well as the shortcomings during the implementation process which further was directed at determining a suitable KMS by addressing the knowledge services as introduced in the KMS architecture by Maier (Maier, 2007). Therewith two complex models generated in the field of KMS are transferred into practical application and discussed in the context of a SME which is part of our framework for the value-oriented decision support on KMS support for SME.

Determining the benefits of social media support in lecturing

Having implemented a Classroom Response System (CRS) “Tweedback” in style of Social Media, this instrument was supposed to be evaluated for further rework and refinements. However, systematic evaluation of such applications is rarely done and demands a determination of the issues to be considered within the evaluation. The scope of the approach presented in this paper is the evaluation with regard to the perceived benefit, showing the problems in usage among the students as well as their intention on further usage of Tweedback. We therefore present our systematic methodical approach using an operationalization of the KMS (Knowledge Management System) Success Model of Jennex and Olfman to show the effects of the usage of Tweedback for the perceived by the students, lacking for the effects on the lecture.

Integrating the IS Success Model for Value-Oriented KMS Decision Support

Evaluating the success of an Information System (IS) is not a trivial problem and usually demands the utilization of several dimensions to cover all facets influencing the success of. Yet, the success provides indications on whether to alignment of the introduced IS to the organizations goals worked out. As scientific literature knows several multi-dimensional approaches for the determination of IS Success, which evolved over the years, a systematic literature analysis can provide a general overview providing the state of the art. Within this paper we renew a systematic literature analysis done by Urbach et al. [1] looking for the recent developments in the field of IS Success. The found approach is supposed to provide us with an procedure to be integrated for a higher value and benefit orientation in the choice and implementation process of knowledge management systems for small and medium enterprises, being able to address their need for value orientation more accurate.

The Value of E-Learning to the Lecturer

E-learning is accepted for several years now, however when describing the benefits to be gained the focus usually lies on overall organizations or students of universities. In the context of universities however not only students are of significant relevance, but also the lecturer who is supposed to transfer his work into the operated e-learning platform or application. But which are the benefits perceived by the teaching personnel at universities? Based on the idea of the perceived benefit motivated by the IS success model a case study from the University of Rostock, Germany is presented to illustrate the benefits experienced by the lecturers starting to use an e-learning system for their teaching work. We therewith demonstrate the operationalization of the IS success model as well as illustrate the possible outcomes and value to be gained from evaluating an e-learning system.

Selecting KMS for SME - A Need for Value-Orientation

Knowledge Management supported by IT solutions has been around for years, yet the question how these are applied in SME and if by which extend still remains. This paper presents 2 surveys conducted on the matter. The first one covers the region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany and the second how social software applications, especially wikis are used for KM in SME. By using the result we are able to show, that the principle of KM reached the SME but the understanding of it and the still unstructured support by IT are affected by the fact that the value of individual applications, e.g. wikis, is not clarified. Accordingly, we describe the idea of a framework allowing for these decisions to be made more structured.