Knowledge is a broad and abstract notion that has defined epistemological debate in western philosophy since the classical Greek era. In the past few years, however, there has been a growing interest in treating knowledge as a significant organizational resource. Consistent with the interest in organizational knowledge and knowledge management (KM), IS researchers have begun promoting a class of information systems, referred to as knowledge management systems (KMS). The objective of KMS is to support creation, transfer, and application of knowledge in organizations. Knowledge and knowledge management are complex and multi-faceted concepts. Thus, effective development and implementation of KMS requires a foundation in several rich literatures.

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Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues

According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

Out of the Crisis

Purpose: This paper discusses partial least squares path modeling (PLS), a powerful structural equation modeling technique for research on international marketing. While a significant body of research provides guidance for the use of covariance-based structural equation modeling (CBSEM) in international marketing, there are no subject-specific guidelines for the use of PLS so far.Methodology/approach: A literature review of the use of PLS in international marketing reveals the increasing application of this methodology.Findings: This paper reveals the strengths and weaknesses of PLS in the context of research on international marketing, and provides guidance for multi-group analysis.Originality/value of paper: The paper assists researchers in making well-grounded decisions regarding the application of PLS in certain research situations and provides specific implications for an appropriate application of the methodology.

The Use of Partial Least Squares Path Modeling in International Marketing

We will review some of the major results in random graphs and some of the more challenging open problems. We will cover algorithmic and structural questions. We will touch on newer models, including those related to the WWW.

Random graphs

The ability to detect and accurately estimate the strength of interaction effects are critical issues that are fundamental to social science research in general and IS research in particular. Within the IS discipline, a significant percentage of research has been devoted to examining the conditions and contexts under which relationships may vary, often under the general umbrella of contingency theory (cf. McKeen et al. 1994, Weill and Olson 1989). In our survey of such studies, the majority failed to either detect or provide an estimate of the effect size. In cases where effect sizes are estimated, the numbers are generally small. These results have led some researchers to question both the usefulness of contingency theory and the need to detect interaction effects (e.g., Weill and Olson 1989). This paper addresses this issue by providing a new latent variable modeling approach that can give more accurate estimates of interaction effects by accounting for the measurement error that attenuates the estimated relationships. The capacity of this approach at recovering true effects in comparison to summated regression is demonstrated in a Monte Carlo study that creates a simulated data set in which the underlying true effects are known. Analysis of a second, empirical data set is included to demonstrate the technique's use within IS theory. In this second analysis, substantial direct and interaction effects of enjoyment on electronic-mail adoption are shown to exist.

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A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic-Mail Emotion/Adoption Study

The present research investigates how trust and distrust differently mediate in customer perceptions of various web features in the process of building customer loyalty. Assuming trust and distrust are different in their psychological aspects, we propose that trust is a cognitively active construct, whereas distrust is an affectively active construct. To support this proposal, we select six antecedents of trust and distrust and hypothesize their different relationships as follows: 1) Antecedents with capability-based elements, such as site convenience and content relevance, are associated with trust; 2) Antecedents with relationship-affecting elements, such as customer involvement and web fraud, are associated with distrust; 3) Antecedents with both elements, such as content truthfulness and customer responsiveness, are associated with both trust and distrust. A survey is conducted on 279 online shopping mall users in Korea, and the result shows that most of the foregoing hypotheses are supported. The finding suggests: 1) Trust emerges when customers expect positive result with confidence, thereby implying that it is cognitively activated; 2) Distrust emerges when customers suspect that the seller has a vicious motivation, thereby implying that it is affectively activated. From these premises, the present study contributes to the literature by showing how trust and distrust are different, and why they should be managed differently to establish customer loyalty.

Antecedents of cognitive trust and affective distrust and their mediating roles in building customer loyalty

De-escalation of commitment in software projects: who matters? what matters?

It is recognized that change management is necessary for information technology implementation success. While there are a growing number of interorganizational systems (IOS) designed for the public, there is little study of and lack of clear guidelines on managing change related to their implementation. This research explores the phenomenon through the case study of a country-wide farecard system implemented in Singapore's public transportation system that involved several organizations and the public. Through the case analysis, we identified critical success factors (CSFs) for change management in IOS for the public and interrelated them using a causal loop diagram (CLD). These factors included refinements of existing CSFs identified from the literature as well as new CSFs from our case study. Our case analysis showed that communication through senior management and cooperation of affected organizations in the system implementation was able to overcome resistance to change in these organizations. We also found that while comprehensive publicity could initiate change in the public, a critical mass had to be built up for managing public change by coopting public opinion leaders as well. By interrelating CSFs identified in the case via a CLD, this study provides a preliminary theoretical framework for studying change management in IOS for the public and aims to guide practitioners in implementing such systems.

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Change Management in Interorganizational Systems for the Public

Metrics are essential for the advancement of research and practice in an area In knowledge management (KM), the process of measurement and development of metrics is made complex by the intangible nature of the knowledge asset Further, the lack of standards for KM business metrics and the relative infancy of research on KM metrics points to a need for research in this area This article reviews KM metrics for research and practice, and identifies areas where there is a gap in our understanding It classifies existing research based on the units of evaluation such as user of knowledge management systems (KMS), KMS project, KM process, KM initiative, and organization as a whole The article concludes by suggesting avenues for future research on KM and KMS metrics based on the gaps identified

Knowledge Management Metrics: A Review and Directions for Future Research

More and more organizations are now trying to attain competitive superiority through better management and use of their knowledge assets. While some initial success stories on knowledge management initiatives have been reported, no coherent framework on knowledge management has yet been proposed. Using the grounded theory approach, we carried out a field study on the knowledge management initiative of a multi-national financial institution and, based on an initial analysis of our data, propose a preliminary framework that incorporates several critical success factors for knowledge management. Introduction In a dynamic and competitive business environment characterized by unpredictable changes, organizations need to be able to continually adapt or adjust their structures, processes, domains, and goals to remain viable (Huber, 1991). This quest for competitive superiority also implies that organizations need to become increasingly effective in using their existing knowledge base for strategic benefit, and in creating and acquiring new knowledge to broaden their knowledge base (Sanchez and Heene, 1997). In a volatile environment, this creation and acquisition of new knowledge must outpace the rate at which current organizational knowledge is becoming obsolete. As we move from an information era into a knowledge era, competitive superiority is increasingly being derived from intellectual assets. To obtain greater value from their intellectual assets, organizations need to manage knowledge generation, transfer, and use among their various functional or business units. Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management Organizational learning literature provides us with a basis for studying knowledge management. Duncan and Weiss (1991) argue that organizational knowledge is critical for the effective operation and adaptation of organizations and it is through learning that organizations develop this knowledge. The current body of organization learning studies focuses specifically on the processes through which organizational knowledge grows and changes. However, little research has been done on how organizational units possessing knowledge and organizational units needing knowledge can seek each other out quickly and with a high likelihood (Huber, 1991). Toward this direction, we need to investigate how organizational memory can serve as a repository of organizational knowledge so as to facilitate the internal search for knowledge by organizational units. Knowledge management has emerged as a key theme among recent research efforts aimed at understanding how to better use organizational memory. At present, such research efforts are still in an infancy stage where the literature comprises mainly articles in magazines, articles on websites, or internal articles produced by consultancy firms. These articles provide some insights, based on anecdotal evidence, that suggest how we may be able to obtain more value from organizational knowledge bases. There have also been several descriptive case studies that describe knowledge management initiatives at prominent organizations, such as British Petroleum, Dow Chemical, Hewlett Packard, Skandia Assurance, and Texas Instruments. These success stories have prompted scholars to recognize the need for knowledge management in organizations. As a result, scholars began to identify key challenges and issues involved in knowledge management and to seek out critical success factors for effective knowledge management. For example, a critical challenge confronting most knowledge management is how to transform the deep-rooted organizational culture and individual belief of “knowledge is power” into “knowledge sharing is power”. To overcome such challenges, all knowledge management initiatives need to be undertaken with a long-term perspective, with the support from top management and the cooperation of organizational units. Two interesting observations are apparent from the few success stories on knowledge management. First, successful knowledge management initiatives typically begin with the recognition of a need to accelerate knowledge transfer and access. In the case of British Petroleum, the use of virtual teamwork through video-conferences to solve critical operational problems had led to faster knowledge transfer, which results in significant time and cost savings. Secondly, to facilitate knowledge management, organizations have begun to create new roles such as Chief Knowledge Officer or Director of Intellectual Capital (see Table 1).

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Bernard C. Y. Tan

Papers

Antecedents of cognitive trust and affective distrust and their mediating roles in building customer loyalty

De-escalation of commitment in software projects: who matters? what matters?

Change Management in Interorganizational Systems for the Public

Knowledge Management Metrics: A Review and Directions for Future Research

Developing a Preliminary Framework for Knowledge Management in Organizations