Informatics

Corporate governance has been heavily criticised, because of governance failures in companies across the globe. In response to these failures, legislative and regulatory changes have been introduced. However, skeptics argue that compliance with these legislative and regulatory acts is costly and time consuming, causing overregulation. Furthermore, many regulatory measures lack business value and there is no guarantee that adherence to these measures can be enforced. This article presents an argument for better utilisation of electronic means and specifically, business process management systems (BPMS), in support of good corporate governance. Through the application of Orlikowski's theory of "technologies-in-practice" as the theoretical underpinning of the study and collection of data from a BPMS vendor company and seven BPMS user companies in South Africa, an electronic monitoring, observation and compliance framework for corporate governance is proposed.

Abstract
Purpose – Numerous authors contend that there are dissimilarities in the way people, especially those from different cultural backgrounds, interpret or accept knowledge sharing. Ribiere and Sitar argue that, as a result of their educational systems, western cultures do not encourage a social exemplar of knowledge sharing. Yeh and Ma concur, arguing that western cultures are more likely to embrace values of self-determination, independence and the attainment of personal interest. In contrast, Yang argues that Asian cultures nurture a sharing and teamwork environment or approach to activities. Very little is mentioned in literature about knowledge sharing in African cultures and/or African organisations. Specifically, not much is known regarding knowledge sharing in settings where the roles of dominance of one culture over another are reversed or neutralised, either by force or law, or by natural progression. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue.

Design/methodology/approach – Being in the fortunate position of working for a culturally diversified multinational organisation based in South Africa, one of the authors was able to determine, on a first-hand basis, how different cultural backgrounds impact upon knowledge sharing. In the organisation under review, research subjects' opinions on knowledge sharing, culture and other knowledge management (KM) issues were surveyed by means of a structured questionnaire consisting of 21 descriptive questions. Phenomenological research was chosen since it is a qualitative research method that attempts to understand participants' perspectives, perceptions and views of a phenomenon. The analysis that follows consists of descriptive statistics used for each question, as well as the testing of hypotheses regarding the relationships between explanatory and response variables.

Findings – As in other studies, cultural issues such as language proficiency, education and schooling, gender biases, age and work experience, were all found to influence the knowledge-sharing inclination of individuals either directly or indirectly. However, when individuals have been exposed to past political turmoil leading to present empowerment policies such as affirmative action, knowledge distribution takes on a different dimension – one in which knowledge sharing becomes a power play. African individuals, irrespective of whether they are black or white, display much more of a sense of power in knowledge sharing than do their European counterparts.

Originality/value – The paper is of relevance to knowledge management practitioners, scholars and professionals interested in the sharing and management of knowledge in extremely diversified and multidimensional environments.

Article Type:Research paper

Keyword(s):Knowledge sharing; Knowledge management; Organizational culture; Equal opportunities; South Africa.

Journal:Aslib Proceedings: New Information Perspectives

Volume:59

Number:3

Year:2007

pp:285-299

Copyright ©Emerald Group Publishing Limited

ISSN:0001-253X

Purpose – Beyond critique of current maturity models, the research literature has neglected to supply empirical evidence of the value knowledge management (KM) holds for organizations. The majority of studies, in common with other emergent business philosophies, are focused on large organizations of developed economies, where readily available implementation resources are an underlying assumption. This paper aims to address this issue and to assess the correlation between the successful institutionalization of KM and organizational performance (OP) in a developing economy.

Design/methodology/approach – From a large urban South African university engaged in numerous collaboration programs with industry, the authors gained insight into KM maturity and organizational performance (OP) of three industry groups, over a five-year period. The authors apply an inventory developed by Kruger and Snyman to a set of nine organisations distributed over three economic sectors in South Africa.

Findings – By evaluating the relationship between KM maturity and OP from within three “time dependent” perspectives, insight was gained to answer the aim of the research undertaken, “Is there a correlation between KM maturity and OP in South Africa?” Diagrammatic presentation of OP scores and KM maturity growth revealed that in five out of the nine organizations there is a clearly identifiable relationship between KM maturity and OP in South Africa in both entities over the period under investigation. In certain instances, the correlations were not easily noticeable and/or were non-existent. From a mathematical perspective, in comparing the correlation between growth in KM maturity and year-on-year growth in OP, it was revealed that six of the eight companies that recorded positive growth in KM maturity also recorded positive (year-on-year) growth in OP. In a similar manner, it was established that the company recording negative growth in KM maturity also recorded negative (year-on-year) growth in OP.

Research limitations/implications – Because the South African scenario can be considered a benchmark for developing economies characterized by continued change, diversity and even elements of silent intolerance and conflict, this study may be viewed as a “pilot study” to provide a baseline and insight into future research of KM for enabling OP.

Originality/value – This paper is of relevance to strategic managers and KM practitioners interested in gaining insight into the correlation between KM maturity and organisational performance.

"Abstract
Purpose – The institutionalization of knowledge management (KM) principles, policies and strategies could be summarized as being diverse, problematic and located across the spectrum of views. Studies suggest that very little is reported on how these principles are institutionalized in organizations. This paper seeks to examine the role these principles play in the establishment of KM and report on an empirical study conducted in 86 South African-based organizations.

Design/methodology/approach – From a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programs with industry, the authors gained insight into KM maturity in industry groupings over a five-year period. The authors applied an inventory developed by Kruger and Snyman to a set of 86 organizations distributed over nine economic sectors in South Africa. In total 434 employees were interviewed over three managerial levels (operational, middle, and senior). This was achieved by having 178 senior practitioners to each interview three subjects (one in each group level).

Findings – Findings indicate that there is a definite trend towards the establishment of KM principles and the successful implementation of KM across South African industries. Industries achieving higher than average scores in the establishment of KM principles also achieved higher than average scores in the implementation of KM. Findings strongly support the argument that elements such as the formulation of strategy, measurement, policy, content, process, technology and culture enable or influence KM ability to manage knowledge.

Originality/value – The paper is of relevance to KM practitioners interested in gaining insight into KM maturity that occurred in the extremely diversified environment of South Africa.

"

a b s t r a c t
This paper explores the much ignored but critically important subject of the perceived relationship
between information and communications technology (ICT), information management (IM) and knowledge
management (KM). Defining the border between ICT, IM and KM, and especially the maturity
remains a highly debatable topic. These issues could be concisely summarized as being diverse and problematic
and located across the spectrum of views. Prior studies suggest that even though KM is strongly
entrenched and rests on the foundation of ICT and IM, very little is reported in the literature on ICT and
IM as enablers to KM. From a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration
programs with industry, the authors gained insight into growth of KM maturity in industry groupings
over a 5-year period. The authors applied an inventory developed by Kruger and Snyman [Kruger, C.
J., & Snyman, M. M. M. (2007). A guideline for assessing the knowledge management maturity of organizations.
South African Journal of Information Management, 9(3). Electronic Journal [Online]. Available
www.sajim.co.za. Accessed 15 October 2007] to a set of 86 organizations distributed over nine economic
sectors in South Africa. In total 434 employees were interviewed over three group levels (operational,
middle and senior management). This was achieved by having 178 senior practitioners to each interview
three subjects (one in each group level).
The findings confirm that on average ICT (74.20%) and IM (62.18%) are well institutionalised in South
African industry. Most organizations are aware of the distinction between ICT and IM, agreeing that
ICT (78.69%) and IM (69.65%) are prerequisites to, and enablers of KM. In support of the concern that
maturity models are biasing institutionalization towards the technological domain, findings support the
argument that endeavours in IM, directly supported by ICT, are easier to implement and/or better managed
and institutionalised, than endeavours that require human intervention and/or a human component
to succeed.

Purpose – Wilson argues that knowledge management (KM) maturity is an extension of information management and effective management of work practices. Gallagher and Hazlett state that there is too much effort addressing technological concerns in KM while offering little practical assistance. Kruger and Snyman believe KM is a strategic resource with ICT and information management as enablers in establishing KM maturity. These three positions of KM growth and maturity reflect the huge spectrum of and diverse views. But, very little is known about the KM growth or maturity that occurs in different industries, or how employees and managers perceive growth in KM maturity. This paper aims to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – From a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programmes with industry, the authors gain insight into the growth of KM in industry groupings over a five-year period. The authors apply an inventory developed by Kruger and Snyman to a set of 86 organisations distributed over nine economic sectors in South Africa. In total 434 employees are interviewed over three group levels (operational, middle and senior management). This is achieved by interviewing 178 senior practitioners in three subjects (one in each group level).

Findings – Analysis of the growth in KM maturity, as it relates to different organisational sizes, reveals that there are statistical differences between the score reported by small, medium, large and extra-large organisations and between the scores reported by senior, middle and operational personnel. Findings also indicate that growth in KM differs between industry groupings, with high growth in construction, building materials and mining (±70 per cent), and low growth in educational institutions (±40 per cent).

Originality/value – This paper is of relevance to KM practitioners interested in gaining insight into KM maturity growth that occurred in different organisational groupings and at different operational levels across an extremely diversified environment.

Abstract:  In a recent article Kruger and Snyman hypothesized that progressions in knowledge management maturity (from a strategic perspective) are directly related to an increased ability to speed up the strategic cycle of imitation, consolidation and innovation. The arguments proposed, however, neglected to supply the reader with a practical toolkit or even a roadmap (a time-related matrix, or questionnaire) to successfully measure succession in knowledge management maturity. This article builds on the previous one and proposes a questionnaire consisting of six sections, containing 101 descriptive questions, to enable organizations to test and assess their knowledge management maturity empirically. The development of an instrument to measure knowledge management maturity required adhering to a research design that combined theoretical propositions with practical experimentation. As a point of departure, a knowledge management maturity matrix consisting of seven maturity levels was formulated. All questions contained within the matrix were benchmarked against a survey questionnaire developed by the public management service of the OECD (PUMA) and were also pre-tested and validated. This process of refinement led to the formulation of the Knowledge Management Maturity Questionnaire. To avoid any taint of this research being based only on theoretical propositions, the questionnaire was tested by 178 master students of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, in nine different industries. The proposed questionnaire provides a bridge between theoretical propositions and practical usability, not only enabling knowledge management practitioners to assess the level of knowledge management maturity reached successfully but, more importantly, also serving as a guideline to institutionalize further and future knowledge management endeavours.

Abstract
The manner in which a business strategy was formulated ten or even as little as five years ago, no longer applies. This phenomenon can to a great extent be attributed to a shift in the strategic importance of information and knowledge. The aim of this paper is to supply strategic thinkers with a holistic “bird’s eye view” of the interdependency between strategic management and strategic knowledge management. By analyzing the different perspectives with regard to strategy formulation from a business point of view, as well as a knowledge management perspective, a generic model incorporating knowledge management strategy formulation within business strategy formulation has been developed.

Article Type:Research Paper

Keyword(s):Competitive advantage; Knowledge management; Strategic planning; Strategic management.

Journal:Journal of Knowledge Management

Volume:8

Number:1

The manner in which business strategy was formulated ten or even as little as five years ago is no longer applicable. This phenomenon can to a great extent be attributed to a shift in the strategic importance of information and communication technology (ICT). The aim of this article is to supply strategic thinkers with a holistic “bird’s eye view” of the interdependency between strategic management and strategic ICT management. By analysing the different perspectives with regard to strategy formulation from a business point of view as well as an ICT perspective a generic model incorporating ICT strategy formulation with business strategy formulation is developed.

Keywords
Information communication technology
Strategic management
Strategy formulation

Purpose - Through an evaluation of the Information Technology adoption and diffusion models and the Free and/or Open Source policy of the South African Government, the underlying assumption is that the developmental divide between those with and those without access to technology is purely technical. This paper illustrates that if Free and/or Open Source Software (FOSS) is to be used as a building block to bridge the ‘digital divide’ a more social and environmental perspective, which embraces the philosophy behind the software, needs to complement the technical perspective. The human environmental model is presented as a useful alternative which, if embraced, can inform more holistic ICT policies.
Design/methodology/approach - Through a review of diffusion of innovations models an alternative diffusion framework is described and applied to an interpretive open source case study in South Africa.
Findings - Contemporary diffusion and innovation models are narrowly focused on Information Technology as a purely technological linear phenomenon. This perspective also underlies many ICT policies. A more socio-technical adoption model can assist in providing a more holistic approach to ICT policy development.
Originality/value - The application of a new innovation model, the human environmental model, to ICT policy provides a holistic framework in which the complexity of the innovation process can be reflected in policy. Such an approach to ICT policy formulation will assist with broadening the perspective of policy makers from IT as a technical solution to IT as part of a socio-technical solution and recognise the duality of the innovation process.
Keywords: ICT Policy; ICT for socio-economic development; ICT adoption and diffusion; ICT implementation context; human environmental model; Free and/or Open Source Software

Metaphors have a tremendous power to guide our actions. In Information Systems Development (ISD) certain metaphors like Software Engineering has guided our thinking concerning how we practice ISD and also how we teach ISD. The argument of this paper is that if we expand our metaphors of ISD we will be able to think more creatively about how we can teach ISD.

Information Technology (IT) lecturers easily become victims of a vicious downward circle of work overload, lost passion, abandoned motivation and hopelessness. In this paper we argue that for a lecturer to escape this downward spiral s/he has to question and change his/her present paradigm. Covey’s eight habits of highly effective people is used as basis for the discussion. The authors have taken habits five to seven and transformed them into practical steps for IT lecturers which could assist them in changing their lecturing careers with the focus on regaining their enthusiasm to once more experience a life of lecturing abundance.

This paper addresses the question: Can changes in internal organisational practices be effectively aligned with contentious national policy imperatives? One of the authors followed the implementation process of an Open Source Enterprise Management System in the South African Public Sector. During this process change management was observed in relation to challenges and opportunities in the alignment of the internal organisational changes to the imperatives of the national Free and Open Source Software policy. Based on this reflection it is proposed that the alignment of the organisational environment, change management strategies and ‘technologies in practice’ is required to address many of the ‘common’ change management challenges. However, this approach does not assist in addressing the major challenge of attaining harmonious internal organisational changes which attempt to implement contentious national policy.

Keywords: change management, alignment, open source, South Africa

Purpose
This paper investigates the implementation process of an Open Source Enterprise Management System in the South African Public Sector.  Change management was observed in relation to challenges and opportunities in the alignment of the internal organisational changes to the imperatives of the national Free and Open Source Software policy.

Design/methodology/approach 
An interpretive case study, using interviews, observation and document review was used.

Findings 
Alignment of the organisational environment, change management strategies and technology is required to address many of the ‘common’ change management challenges. However, ICT policies are formed and adopted in a highly complex environment and have embedded property and power relations which impact the nature and direction of their implementation. In this case one of the main challenges arose from the alignment of internal organisational change to a national policy which did not seem to have the full support of the agency which was tasked with implementing it.

Originality/value
Many of the challenges faced by the Public Sector Department are commonly described in change management literature, such as inadequate consideration for the social context in which the change was to take place.  What emerges from this paper is a caution that there is not a single voice within government and in a multi-levelled and multi-sectoral institution there exist many different rationalities. The internal alignment of the divergent voices within government would be a prerequisite for the organisational environment, change management strategies and technology to be aligned. 


Keywords: change management, alignment, open source, South Africa

Information Technology (IT) lecturers easily become victims of a vicious downward circle of work overload, lost passion, abandoned motivation and hopelessness.  In this paper we argue that for a lecturer to escape this downward spiral s/he has to question and change his/her present paradigm.  Covey’s eight habits of highly effective people is used as basis for the discussion.  The authors have taken the first three habits and transformed them into practical steps for IT lecturers which could assist them in changing their lecturing careers with the focus on regaining their enthusiasm to once more experience a life of lecturing abundance.

This paper addresses the question of Can a holistic model to ICT adoption and diffusion improve ICT policy formulation? This question is answered by illustrating that in a  globalised economy the existing models of ICT adoption are inadequate in explaining the process of adoption and diffusion, and; that a human-environmental model can address this gap by explaining the duality of this process. The example of the South African draft White Paper on e-education is used to support this claim.