Showing papers by "James D. McKeen published in 2009"

Knowledge management and organizational performance: an exploratory analysis

Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an exploratory investigation of the organizational impact of knowledge management (KM)., – A search of the literature revealed 12 KM practices whose performance impact was assessed via a survey of business organizations., – KM practices were found to be directly related to organizational performance which, in turn, was directly related to financial performance. There was no direct relationship found between KM practices and financial performance. A different set of KM practices was associated with each value discipline (i.e. customer intimacy, product development and operational excellence). A gap exists between the KM practices that firms believe to be important and those that were directly related to organizational performance., – The majority of the research constructs were formative, thus improving the measurement of KM practices will prove vital for validating and extending these findings. The findings were based solely on organizations from North America and Australia and may not reflect KM practices in other geographic, economic or cultural settings., – This study encourages practitioners to focus their KM initiatives on specific intermediate performance outcomes., – The paper examines the relationship between KM practices and performance outcomes. It was expected that a direct relationship between KM practices and organizational performance would be observed. It was also expected that organizational performance would mediate the relationship between KM practices and financial performance. These expectations were supported. KM practices showed a direct relationship with intermediate measures of organizational performance, and organizational performance showed a significant and direct relationship to financial performance. There was no significant relationship found between KM practices and financial performance.

How Does Information Technology Affect Business Value? A Reassessment and Research Propositions

Abstract: Because of the tremendous growth in the investment in information technology (IT), senior management has begun to demand that the value of this investment be assessed. This assessment is not possible without measurement. As a result, many feel that the measurement of IT value will be the critical management task of the next decade. The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it reviews current research on the value of IT with the hope of understanding the reason for the equivocal results which have been obtained. It does this by examining the assumptions and measures which have been used in framing this research. Second, it looks at how organizational performance is measured and how performance is presumed to be affected by information technology. Finally, it explores a new set of assumptions, measures, and research propositions which may yield more fruitful results in assessing the value of information technology. While the paper is theoretical, it develops the groundwork for future empirical studies by establishing the necessary quantitative measures for such investigation. Resume A cause de la croissance enorme de l'investissement dans latechnologie d'information, la haute direction a commence a demander que la valeur de cet investissement soit determinee. Cette evaluation n'est pas possible sans mesures. En consequence, plusieurs pensent qu'une tâche critique de gestion pour la prochaine decennie sera de mesurer la valeur de la technologie d'information. Le but de cet article est triple. Premierement, il revoit la recherche courante sur la valeur de la technologie d'information avec l'espoir de comprendre la raison des resultats equivoques qui ont ete obtenus. Il fera ceci en examinant les hypotheses et mesures qui ont ete utilisees pour encadrer la recherche. Deuxiemement, il examine comment la performance organisationnelle est mesuree et comment la performance est presumement affectee par la technologie d'information. Finalement, il exploreunnouvel ensemble d'hypotheses, mesures, et propositions de recherche qui peuvent produire des resultats plus profitables dans l'evaluation de la valeur de la technologie d'information. Meme si cet article n'est pas empirique, il developpe un canevas pour les futures etudes empiriques en etablissant les mesures quantitatives necessaires pour une telle investigation.

Developments in Practice XXXIII: A Holistic Approach to Managing IT-based Risk

Abstract: Not long ago, IT-based risk was a fairly low-key activity focused on whether IT could deliver projects successfully and keep applications up and running. But with the opening up of the organization‘s boundaries to external partners, service providers, external electronic communications, and online services, managing IT-based risk has morphed into a ―bet the company‖ proposition. Not only is the scope of the job bigger, the stakes are much higher. As companies have become more dependent on IT for everything they do, the costs of service disruption and inadequate security practices have escalated exponentially. Therefore, the job of managing IT-based risk has become broader and more complex. Whereas in the past companies have sought security through physical or technological means (e.g., locked rooms, virus scanners), there is now growing understanding that managing ITbased risk must be a strategic and holistic activity that is not just the responsibility of a small group of IT specialists, but part of a mindset that extends from partners and suppliers to employees and customers. This paper explores how organizations are addressing and coping with increasing IT-based risk. It presents the results of an in-depth discussion of this issue with 20 senior IT practitioners and the challenges facing them. It proposes a holistic view of risk and examines the characteristics and components needed to develop an effective risk management framework, presenting a generic framework for integrating the growing number of elements involved in it. Finally, it describes successful practices organizations could use for improving their risk management capabilities.

Exploring Strategies for Deploying Knowledge Management Tools and Technologies

Abstract: The overwhelming number of knowledge management (KM) tools on the market today and the hype surrounding them makes it difficult for knowledge managers to know which tools will provide them with the best KM value. Despite this wide array of options, there is no technological silver bullet to solve an organization’s KM problems. Knowledge managers have to develop mechanisms and strategies for how best to implement and use KM tools and technologies. Using an exploratory focus group comprised of knowledge managers from a number of different organizations, this study explores the relationship between KM and technology and identifies the strategies knowledge managers use to successfully recognize where and how technology should be implemented and used to facilitate knowledge management work.Our results support the existing KM literature by highlighting the importance of delivering KM tools on a solid foundation of information technology (IT) and information management (IM) infrastructure. Further, KM tools work best for different tasks and work groups; therefore, understanding which tool ismost appropriate for the use context is critical. We also gain an understand ing of the strategies that KM managers use for successful implementation and use of KM tools. These strategies embody the following principles: experimentation, iteration, adaptation of grassroots technologies and building on what works. The findings from this study suggest that when knowledge managers use these strategies for deploying KM tools, delivering success and business value from KM is much more likely.