Showing papers by "James D. McKeen published in 2004"

Creating and Facilitating Communities of Practice

Abstract: Communities of practice (CoPs) are an emerging, unstructured organizational form that many believe will help companies to truly leverage what they know. CoPs appear to have the potential to galvanize knowledge sharing, learning, and change thereby improving a company’s performance and making it more competitive. However, a major problem with them is that their organic and informal nature makes them highly resistant to management supervision and interference in their activities. CoPs are therefore controversial because there is no clear role for management in them. In fact, if management does get involved, the community often dissipates. Yet paradoxically, CoPs require specific managerial efforts to develop and support them so that their full power can be leveraged.

Developments in practice xiv: it sourcing - how far can you go?

Abstract: Outsourcing is now a widely accepted part of dong business. What started as a mechanism to lower costs is now an integral part of a much larger IT strategy. Today, newer forms of outsourcing are on the horizon and newer approaches that will change yet again how IT sourcing decisions are made. Better connectivity, the availability of high quality staff, and much lower costs in other countries are shifting sourcing markets and expanding sourcing possibilities for companies. To examine how sourcing is changing in IT organizations, the authors convened a focus group of senior IT managers from a variety of companies. This paper explores the evolution of sourcing and how sourcing strategies are shifting. Then it looks at emerging sourcing models and particularly at offshore/nearshore outsourcing. Finally, it identifies critical factors for successful sourcing. The paper concludes that while sourcing is changing the nature of the work that is done internally in IT, it is unlikely that it will eliminate this function altogether or reduce the its value to that of a utility. To the contrary, more and more organizations will need the systems thinking, architectural understanding, and strategic awareness embodied in a modern IT department to ensure that they don’t end up with a hollow shell of an organization which provides limited added value to the marketplace.

Knowledge Managers: Who They Are and What They Do

Abstract: Knowledge management (the process) and knowledge managers (the people) are recent organizational phenomena. The latter (the knowledge managers) are those key individuals charged with the task of making the former (knowledge management) successful. Due to the recent emergence of these organizational initiatives, a study of knowledge managers — who they are and what they do — was thought to be instructive and revealing as well as being sufficiently current to enable organizations to either adopt or adapt their knowledge management strategy. A survey to reveal the characteristics of knowledge managers as well as knowledge management initiatives was designed and distributed to practicing knowledge managers, primarily from US and Canadian organizations. This chapter, based on the analysis of 41 completed questionnaires, reveals the backgrounds, goals, ambitions, initiatives, and challenges as self-assessed by these individuals. By pulling this information together, a profile of a “typical” knowledge manager is presented. The question that remains to be asked is “Are these the most appropriate individuals to lead the KM charge”?

Developments in Practice XII: Knowledge-Enabling Business Processes

Abstract: While in theory what an organization knows is fundamental to its success, in practice only a few companies have seen significant business results from their knowledge management (KM) initiatives. Therefore, many knowledge managers are rethinking how and where knowledge really adds value. Connecting knowledge activities to core business processes is slowly coming to be recognized as a second, and more effective, stage of KM in organizations. This paper examines how practicing knowledge managers from several different organizations are knowledge-enabling business processes to deliver business value. It then integrates their experiences with previous research to present a preliminary framework of how to link KM better into business process design activities.

Developments in Practice XIV: Marketing KM to the Organization

Abstract: KM is experiencing the steep downward slope of the “hype cycle” and some organizations are rushing to abandon KM as quickly as they rushed to adopt it. Unfortunately, much of our understanding of what KM can do for organizations is still limited to academic treatises and small pilot studies. Managers therefore realize they must market KM more effectively in order to communicate its potential and build a coalition of support while KM matures and evolves. To explore this issue, the authors convened a focus group of practicing knowledge managers. After examining how KM groups currently market themselves, this paper constructs a framework for marketing KM in an organization that integrates the experiences of KM managers with basic marketing principles. It concludes that KM faces many marketing challenges, including lack of understanding of the need, lack of brand awareness, and a negative brand attitude. It recommends that knowledge managers must see themselves as internal entrepreneurs, first building a market for their product and then developing an effective marketing strategy. It also suggests there is a hierarchy of knowledge needs in organizations that must be addressed sequentially in order to develop trust and credibility among general business managers.

Linking IT to Business Metrics

Abstract: Early efforts to link measures of IT investment with measures of business performance have often been challenged to show consistent organization-level relationships. Managers and researchers alike have often concluded in the past that the relationship between what is done in IT and what happens in business is considerably more complex than originally thought. It has long been argued that technology is not the major stumbling block to achieving business performance, but rather it is the business itself – the processes, the managers, the culture and the skills – that makes the difference. Therefore, a good business metrics program that considers not only IT investments but also how the business uses IT is important. If a business measurement program is carefully designed, properly linked to an incentive program, widely implemented and effectively monitored by management, it is highly likely that business performance will become an integral part of the mindset of all IT staff and ultimately pay off in a wide variety of ways.

Important human factors for systems development success: a user focus

Abstract: Improving user satisfaction with information systems is an important consideration given the amount of resources organizations invest in systems development. Many factors are likely to play a role in enhancing the satisfaction users feel toward their systems, but probably none is as important as having knowledgeable, well-trained users participate in a meaningful way in the system development process. This study empirically tests the importance of user participation, user experience, user/developer communication, user training, user influence, and user conflict encountered during the system development process. A sample of 228 system users were used for a multivariate regression model testing the importance of these factors. The results indicate that user participation, user training, and user expertise can explain 61% of the variance in user satisfaction with their systems. The other factors showed no statistical significance in this study. Based on the results, managerial recommendations are proposed to people responsible for the systems development process in organizations.

Developments in Practice XIII Electronic Communications: Strategies for Coping with the Deluge

Abstract: The “good” news is that technologies (e.g., PDAs, mobile computing) allow individuals to communicate with others virtually anytime, anyplace, and anywhere. Among other things, the expanded communications allows business to be transacted in real time by curtailing traditional lags. The “bad” news is individuals now communicate with others virtually anytime, anyplace and anywhere. As a result, the volume of messages increased significantly, extraordinary demands are placed on managers’ time, and businesses face increased costs and liabilities. A new set of management issues were created to manage electronic communications effectively. Based on the insights of a group of senior IT managers from leading edge organizations, the authors explore the issues arising from the proliferation of electronic communication channels and share proven strategies for tackling the issues.