Reports from the Field: Knowledge and Learning Applications in Practice

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    Organizational factors promoting the uptake of informal learning within NIEs: a dual case study of a consulting firm and legal / health professionals.
    ( 2021-01-05) Benabid, Myriam
    The effectiveness of corporate training continues to be questioned, despite its ongoing growth. Most learning time is spent in informal situations, triggered by situational needs and Nomadic Information Environments (NIEs). This is especially the case for knowledge-intensive workers who seek out knowledge that is less codified, but which is harder to identify ex-ante. This article explores the connection between self-learning within NIEs and its context. Our theoretical framework is based on the work around informal learning, suggesting factors leading to the uptake of such practices. Through inductive reasoning, we applied a qualitative protocol for data collection in the context of two case studies representing knowledge-intensive workers. 32 interviews were conducted using a semi-directive approach. Triangulation was carried out analyzing 200 documents and tools, and 3 teams were shadowed and observed. We highlight 11 organizational factors (professional, managerial and technological). Our work updates the informal learning factors within the specific context of NIEs. By identifying these factors, we also recognize the need for organizations to facilitate access to suitable, efficient and high-quality self-learning options.
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    Exploring the Challenges and Barriers of Knowledge Retention in Information Systems Development Teams: The Case of Pēke
    ( 2021-01-05) Chiu, Yi-Te ; Mirkovski, Kristijan ; Cranefield, Jocelyn ; Shankar, Shruthi
    Knowledge Retention (KR) is vital for information systems development (ISD) as information technology (IT) professionals rely on accumulated technical and organizational knowledge to develop and maintain information systems. To help organizations better understand KR in the ISD context, we explore the erosion of KR practices arising from staff churn and the aftermath of a major earthquake in an ISD unit in a financial organization in New Zealand. In this preliminary study, we develop a causal model of KR in the ISD context, which articulates the barriers, challenges, and consequences of ineffective KR for at the routine and exiting stages. Our model identifies four barriers and challenges—coordination complexity, resources for knowledge retention, attention to knowledge retention, and process for hiring and handover—which can affect the loss of ISD knowledge when routine and exiting KR fall into disarray. We also provide implications for practitioners regarding KR in the ISD context.
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    Creating Shared Visions in Organizations – Taking an Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management Perspective
    ( 2021-01-05) Kaiser, Alexander ; Fahrenbach, Florian ; Martinez, Hector
    This paper is based on the observation that literature on shared visions is either mainly dominated by top-down vision communication, which aims at followers taking over the vision of a leader, or accounts on shared visions are too narrow and too unspecific to be of much use for organizational practice. As a consequence, we currently lack an applicable process model that facilitates the creation of a shared organizational visions in a bottom-up manner. This paper aims at introducing and theoretically grounding such a process model. We find that the creation of a shared organizational vision can be seen as an instance of a knowledge creating and organizational learning process that transforms personal visions and personal organizational visions through a dialectic process towards a shared organizational vision. During this process, knowledge about needs, values, resources and desires is created and shared in the organization. In so doing, we summarize extant literature on developing shared visions and synthesize the literature into a process model which can be applied by academics and practitioners alike.
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