Cultural impacts on knowledge sharing: empirical data from EU project collaboration

A step towards harmonising human biomonitoring study setup on European level: Materials provided and lessons learnt in HBM4EU

Internal exposure of the human body to potentially harmful chemical substances can be assessed by Human Biomonitoring (HBM). HBM can be used to generate conclusive data that may provide an overview of exposure levels in entire or specific population groups. This knowledge can promote the understanding of potential risks of the substances of interest or help monitoring the success of regulatory measures taken on the political level. Study planning and design are key elements of any epidemiologic study to generate reliable data. In the field of HBM, this has been done using differing approaches on various levels of population coverage so far. Comparison and combined usage of the resulting data would contribute to understanding exposure and its factors on a larger scale, however, the differences between studies make this a challenging and somewhat limited endeavour. This article presents templates for documents that are required to set up an HBM study, thus facilitating the generation of harmonised HBM data as a step towards standardisation of HBM in Europe. They are designed to be modular and adaptable to the specific needs of a single study while emphasising minimum requirements to ensure comparability. It further elaborates on the challenges encountered during the process of creating these documents during the runtime of the European Joint Programme HBM4EU in a multi-national expert team and draws up lessons learnt in the context of knowledge management.

A Model for Knowledge Management Systems in the UbuntuNet Alliance Member Institutions

In the current knowledge-driven global economy, higher education and research institutions are taking a leading role as the hubs for knowledge creation and sharing. In contribution to the needed coordination of the efforts, this paper presents a guiding model thorough assessment of the prevailing status of knowledge resources sharing and collaboration in the regional alliance for education and research networks in the eastern and southern African countries—UbuntuNet Alliance. This research carried out a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews with CEOs of three active national research and education networks (NRENs), representing both the government-run and private consortium-based settings. The study adopted a socio-technical perspective in assessing the technological engagements and the knowledge resources utilization within and among the NRENs in the region. The findings show that the NRENs share a similar set of challenges as well as missions and objectives; they aspire to provide technology-enhanced knowledge-sharing platforms within and across their domains. Finally, it presents UbuntuKMS Model—a comprehensive technology-enhanced knowledge management systems model that intends to provide guidance for the NRENs to orient their efforts accordingly. The research revealed that contextual considerations in developing system solutions are vital as the developing economies experience unique realities on the ground.

Bibliometric analysis of the VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems: 2000–2020

Purpose

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems (VJIKMS) is one of the oldest and leading journals in the knowledge management (KM) field. The purpose of this study is to conduct bibliometrics analysis of publications published in VJIKMS for the past two decades. For doing this, this paper covered the past two decades of publications and carried out a science mapping analysis of publications.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology included bibliometrics and the science mapping analysis process. This paper imported the bibliographic information of VJIKMS from the abstract and citation database Scopus. Through bibliometrics method, this paper examined the citation results, author productivity, authorship pattern, research collaboration and other parameters of the selected publications. Afterward, this paper used VOSviewer software to carry out the science mapping of bibliometric networks.

Findings

The findings showed that VJIKMS published 718 publications during 2000–2020, which got cited 4,311 times (6 times per article) till date. Joint authorship and international collaboration have been increasing where 1,417 authors from 66 countries have published. The USA, the UK and Iran lead the KM publications in this journal. Nonaka’s publications and Journal of Knowledge Management (JKM) are highly cited references and journals in the VJIKMS.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study would help the KM students, researchers and practitioners to see the diffusion of KM globally, what are the promising areas to work and helps to know the various patterns of publications if they aim to publish in VJIKMS.

Originality/value

This is the first time a bibliometric analysis has been conducted to analysis of research publications published in VJIKMS. This presents a comprehensive analysis of publications between 2000 and 2020.

The impact of knowledge management system on student performance

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the role of knowledge management system (KMS) on the performance of students in higher educational institutions (HEIs).

Design/methodology/approach

Building on the extensive review of literature, the authors explored the factors of KMS to arrive at the conceptual model which was then validated using structural equation modeling. For the quantitative analysis, data were collected from undergraduate students using questionnaires distributed both through online and offline modes.

Findings

Empirical evidence supports the view that KMS have a direct and significant impact on the student performance (SP) in HEIs.

Research limitations/implications

The data are limited to 311 undergraduate students from the University of Delhi, India.

Practical implications

With the onset of national rankings framework like NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council), NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) and the attempt to achieve global recognition in THE (Times Higher Education), Quacquarelli Symonds and other world university rankings, the HEIs are trying hard to improve their performance comprehensively. In such a scenario, this paper provides insights into how HEIs can enhance performance of its students by harnessing KMS.

Originality/value

The current paper empirically validates the effect of KMS on the performance of students in an educational institution. While the impact of KMS on performance is measured empirically in corporations, such studies are scanty in academic centers. Moreover, while measuring the performance in HEIs using KM, the focus on ranking parameters has never been there. Such an orientation is essential as the rankings are getting wide acceptance from a global audience.

Pursuing Innovation Through Knowledge Sharing

The present study investigates the relationship between knowledge sharing (knowledge donation and knowledge collection dimensions) with organizational innovation (Administrative and technological innovation forms) in Brazilian and Portuguese organizations. The hypotheses were tested using the partial least squares (PLS) approach. Knowledge donation was shown to be positively related with administrative innovation among Portuguese companies, but not among Brazilian companies. Knowledge donation was shown to be positively related with technical innovation among both Brazilian and Portuguese companies. Knowledge collection was shown to have no relationship with either of the two types of innovation in the two investigated countries. As a practical implication, companies that work in multiple locations need to customize their sharing processes considering differences in national culture. Other studies have made use of the two-dimensional concept of knowledge sharing, but view its relationship with a one-dimensional construct of innovation and without comparing contexts.

Alliance portfolio formation and configuration by small and medium ICT firms

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to explore the forming and configuring of interfirm cooperation in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) characterized by different rates of growth.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study applies a qualitative approach. A multi-site case study was conducted in 26 Polish ICT firms.

Findings

– The research indicates that SMEs manage alliances ad hoc and are characterized by a constantly emerging portfolio of partners. The results also indicate that “stable-growth” and “hyper-growth” firms adopt different approaches to managing alliances and they are characterized by different attitude of top managers towards uncertainty.

Practical implications

– The results suggest that the managers’ attitude affects the formation and management of alliance portfolio in SMEs. The authors further highlight the importance of managerial agency within the firms and indicate that managers can actively shape the alliance portfolio of their firms.

Originality/value

– The paper theoretically contributes to alliance portfolio literature through the adoption of both managerial and structural perspectives. More precisely, this study provides the factors related to managers that might affect a firm’s alliance portfolio configuration. All of these factors relate to managers’ approach to uncertainty. Furthermore, this study extends the previous research through focusing on SMEs.