1,720,979 research outputs found
Ackoff's Fables revisited: stories to inform operational research practice
No full textThis paper considers Ackoff's Fables, a set of short stories published by Ackoff in 1978 as guides to creative problem solving. The paper argues that storytelling of this kind contributes usefully to management and MS/OR education, before addressing how such Fables might be interpreted. It is demonstrated, using one of Ackoff's Fables, The Smart Jackass, for illustrative purposes, that interpretation of even apparently straightforward stories such as these is not unambiguous. The Fables can be interpreted in a multitude of different and sometimes contradictory ways, and the truths they might contain are not self-evident. Yet, as the basis for discussion, they still have much to offer as educational tools. The paper concludes with a discussion of literal truth in stories, and presents a classification of story types according to their relationship to literal truth
"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin (...to transfer some knowledge?)" Narrative approaches to the transfer and interpretation of organisational knowledge
No full textNarrative approaches to the transfer of organisational knowledge
No full textNarratives, or stories, have been identified as one of the ways in which knowledge might be transferred, shared or exchanged in organisational settings. Beyond their identification, little consideration has been given to the ways in which narrative approaches can increase our understanding of the creation and dissemination of knowledge in organisations. This paper reflects upon some of the ways in which narrative approaches might contribute towards a better understanding of organisational knowledge management. It contributes to the debate on the nature and significance of the contextual features of organisational knowledge, particularly the role of tacit knowledge, and identifies some of the distinctions between formal and informal knowledge transfer mechanisms, which operate (with or without effective management) within organisations
Knowledge characteristics of communities of practice
No full textThis paper proposes a typology of communities of practice based on their knowledge characteristics. The structure of a community of practice, in terms of knowledge, may tend to the stratified or to the egalitarian. The predominant knowledge activity of the community may be sharing or nurturing. This produces four classes of community of practice. The paper identifies and discusses examples of these classes. It is argued that the class to which a community belongs tends to determine the rapidity with which knowledge within the community evolves and the degree of pluralism, as opposed to homogeneity, that the knowledge exhibits. The paper concludes by discussing some of the implications of the typology for knowledge management practice
The identification and cultivation of appropriate communities of practice in higher education
No full textThis chapter is specifically concerned with Communities of Practice of teachers, rather then students, in Higher Education, and with the teaching role rather than other roles such as research (although many of the arguments presented within the chapter can be generalised to other contexts). Following a short introduction to Communities of Practice, the chapter presents a classification of Communities of Practice utilising the dimensions of community structure and of knowledge activity. Drawing upon the work of Wenger, McDermott and Snyder (2002), the cultivation of Communities of Practice is discussed, and the question of how different types of community may be cultivated is considered. The chapter then addresses how these considerations may apply within Higher Education teaching. It is concluded that a flexible approach, which allows the nature of a Community of Practice to be modified in accordance with needs, is desirable
The challenges of navigating a topic to a prospective researcher: the case of knowledge management research
No full textExploring a researchable topic and narrowing it down sufficiently to make it workable is a first task in any scientific research. This is particularly difficult when the researcher is a novice, because s(he) is unlikely to be properly aware of what the essential issues and the research question(s) in the field are. This article addresses the question of how to navigate a research topic for an academic project. The article is potentially of interest to novice researchers and researchers new to a field. Illustrating its argument by means of an example in the area of knowledge management, the article proposes a set of guidelines for narrowing down a research topic to workable size. A number of recommendations are made; by utilizing these recommendations to construct a navigation map, it is hoped that a researcher can use fully formulate research question(s). It can be argued that drawing such a navigation map is an art in which prospective researchers need to be trained
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