1,721,111 research outputs found
Grasping knowledge based value creation dynamics in 21st century organizations
No full textPurpose – Recently one of topics that has greatly drawn scholars’ attention regards the complex dynamics through which knowledge resources take part to company’s value creation. This is because even if there can hardly be any doubt that knowledge resources and their management may have significant positive effects on organisational performance, more remains to be understood about how intangible resources can be coherently and successfully converted in value, what are the “right”, or appropriate approaches to assess and manage these resources, and how these approaches can disentangle the mechanisms by which those resources contribute to improve companies’ capability to compete in today’s competitive scenario.
In this introduction to the special issue the aim is to develop some insights concerning the understanding of how knowledge resources translate into value and how evaluating the effects of knowledge resources management on organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The approaches, evidences and insights discussed in this introduction are largely based on the discussion of the topics of the 8th edition of the ‘‘International Forum on Knowledge Asset Dynamics’’ organized in June 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia. At this conference leading experts explored the relevance of knowledge resources and their management for supporting business organizations as well as regional and urban systems to evolve and become smarter in the twenty-first century competitive landscape.
Findings – The outcomes of this introduction and the contributions to the special issue reflect the emerging discussion about the role of knowledge resources in value creations dynamics of 21th century organisations. This discussion is largely focused on the importance of developing appropriate and shared models, methods and approaches to grasp knowledge based value creation dynamics, against new emerging challenges such as the business sustainability on several fronts ranging from social and cultural to economic and environmental.
Originality/value – This introduction as well as all the contributions to the special issue deal with different aspects which are important in advancing knowledge concerning how knowledge resources and their management contribute to improve performance and value created in 21th century organizations. In particular, the issue provides a substantial contribution to the subject in terms of methodology and investigations on field according to different perspectives of analysis and shows approaches, tools, methods and techniques to better disentangle the mechanisms by which knowledge resources separately or interdependently, contribute to improve companies’ organizational performance
Assessing the links between knowledge assets and value creation in organisations
No full textPurpose – There is an increasing academic and practitioner interest in more actionable approaches and tools explaining how knowledge assets take place in organizational value creation mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to propose a methodology aimed both at identifying companies' knowledge assets that significantly contribute to creating value and at analysing how these assets activate value creation dynamics.
Design/methodology/approach – The proposed methodology draws on cognitive mapping principles and the use of the strategy and success maps. Additionally the methodology involves the application of two multi-criteria decision support methods, i.e. the analytic hierarchy process and the analytic network process. The methodology has been applied in three companies.
Findings – The suggested methodology makes managers able to take better informed decisions with regard to knowledge assets allocation and management. In the examined case studies the mapping methodology was efficient and proved to be comprehensible by the actors involved in the evaluation and decision-making processes, who felt comfortable with the method and its results.
Originality/value – The proposed methodology combines the advantages connected to the use of mapping as a descriptive and thinking tool, with the rigorous evaluation procedures characterising multi-criteria decision-making methods. From a theory perspective, it enriches the perspectives of analysis about the relations between knowledge assets and companies' strategic outcomes, while from a practitioner perspective it can support managers in designing and assessing effective knowledge assets management initiatives
Evaluating and selecting key performance indicators: an ANP-based model
No full textPurpose – Selecting the most meaningful performance indicators, i.e. key performance indicators (KPIs), represents one of the major challenges that companies have to face for developing an effective performance measurement system (PMS). Selecting KPIs can be interpreted as a multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, involving a number of factors and related interdependencies. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model, based on the analytic network process (ANP), for driving managers in the selection of KIPs. The model draws upon the consideration that KPIs can be evaluated and selected on the basis of a set of criteria, theoretically founded, and the feedback dependencies between the criteria and performance indicators as well as among indicators.
Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of management literature regarding the information quality required by performance measures, the paper identifies a set of criteria for selecting KIPs. The criteria form the building blocks of the proposed ANP model. The feasibility of the model is proved through its application to a real case.
Findings – The paper proposes and illustrates the practical application of an ANP-based model for selecting KPIs. The use of the ANP makes it possible to extracts weights for setting the priorities among indicators, by taking account of mutual dependencies among indicators and criteria. This enhances the quality of the selection process.
Originality/value – Often managers choose KPIs without an accurate approach. The paper offers a novel model for driving managers towards the choice of KPIs through a rigorous approach, based on the ANP method. The model draws on a solid theoretical foundation and has been proven in practice
Fostering excellence in business model management in arts and cultural organisations: insights from focus group research across Europe
No full textPurpose
In today’s business landscape arts and cultural organisations are challenged to search excellence of their business model management in order to create and deliver value in a more sustainable way. This study develops exploratory focus groups aimed to capture insights into the practical challenges, wants and needs that arts and cultural organisations across Europe address and face in managing and developing their business models.
Design/methodology/approach
Focus groups method has been applied. The methodology included seven focus groups involving arts and cultural organisations operating in different European countries.
Findings
The overall feeling emerging from focus groups is that there is an increasing pressure to proof the value of culture, e.g. economic, social, civic, progressively more in quantitative figures. Arts and cultural organisations are greatly concerned about their financial health and their ability to continue creating and presenting great arts and cultural events. At the same time, there is an acceptance that gaining financial resilience and sustainability can no longer be put off. Organizations are conscious that it is crucial to rethink their way of operating and to improve their value creation mechanisms to get sustainability. Nevertheless, the challenges to face and issues of change to get a more effective business model management are numerous and various.
Originality/value
The study sheds more light on “business dimensions” perceived by arts and cultural organisations across Europe, as particularly crucial for their survival and requiring proper management attention. In doing this, it offers fresh and valuable knowledge about aspects, factors, dimensions to take into account in managing business model
Organizational Climate as Performance Driver: Health Care Workers’ Perception in a Large Hospital
Full text linkRecently health care (HC) organizations have increasingly embarked on organizational climate (OC) assessment with the intent to improve their efficiency and the quality of the delivered services. This is important; however, it is even if more crucial to ensure that workers engaged in the evaluation process are aware of the importance of their fruitful engagement in this investigation as well as of its potential benefits. From the management viewpoint, this is crucial to plan and implement management initiatives able to create a great place to work. The purpose of this paper is to shed empirical light on how, in effect, HC workers perceive OC for itself and as a performance driver to assess and manage. The study was carried out through an action research (AR) project, which included the use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Key phases of the AR project were some focus groups and a survey. During the focus groups, several methods and approaches were adopted for getting opinions from people and animating discussion. About the survey, a total sample of 560 HC workers was investigated.
The AR project has shown that even if HC workers intuitively conceive OC as an important performance driver, the meaning of the construct is not completely clear. Moreover, a good level of awareness among HC workers about how and why OC can improve individual and organizational performance represents a key issue to address in evaluating and managing OC
Assessing the role of knowledge assets in value creation dynamics by using the Analytic Network Process
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The knowledge based foundations of the organisational performance improvements: an action research project
No full textPurpose: The strategic and management literature grounded on the resource and knowledge based view of the firm, has widely outlined the importance of knowledge assets in a company‟s value creation. However, despite acknowledgment of the strategic relevance of knowledge assets and their management for driving organizational performance improvement, there is still a lack of suitable approaches to disentangle, explain and assess how knowledge assets support the achievement of a company‟s strategic outcomes. The paper investigates the role and relevance of knowledge assets in a company‟s performance improvement and provides some approaches, tools and managerial suggestions regarding the leveraging knowledge assets as value drivers for improving organisational performance. Methodology: The study is based on action research methodology. Findings: This paper highlights the role and relevance of knowledge assets as critical factors to manage for improving a company‟s performance. In particular, integrating the results of an action research project with the main insights from a literature review, the paper provides some approaches, tools and managerial suggestions mainly regarding: i) the identification and mapping of knowledge assets to be managed in order to improve performances; ii) the choice and the design of knowledge assets management initiatives; iii) the evaluation of the performance improvement gained by the implementation of knowledge assets management initiatives. Research limitations: The paper investigates the leveraging knowledge assets for a company‟s performance improvement in a specific context of analysis, i.e. the New Product Development (NPD) process. In order to have a more holistic view of the interactions between knowledge assets and company‟s value creation mechanisms, an extension of the investigation to other organisational processes is required. Moreover, to generalise the research‟s results, several applications in different industries and the use of different research methodologies are required. Practical implications: The paper, on the basis of theoretical and empirical insights, provides four managerial practices which managers might use in order to design and implement knowledge assets management initiatives aimed to support the improvement of company‟s performances. Originality/value: The paper provides more light on how knowledge assets and complementarities among them enhance organization‟s performances and provides approaches, tools and managerial suggestions for supporting managers in developing and leveraging knowledge assets. Especially the proposed approaches and tools intended to provide managers with information to assist them to allocate their managerial efforts to the knowledge assets with significant impact on performance
Progetti di Knowledge Management: strumenti per la Gestione delle Prestazioni di Impresa
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