Technology knowledge and governance: Empowering citizen engagement and participation

The term technology knowledge (T-knowledge) is used to describe knowledge about and the ability to operate specific technologies such as the internet. T-knowledge also includes the ability required to operate particular technologies. T-knowledge can potentially improve engagement by helping the user to make his/her personal decision in an increasing range of domains. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which an extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) facilitates t-knowledge in e-government services offered by City Halls. We also investigate whether t-knowledge has an effect on citizen engagement in government initiatives. In this research, an extended TAM is developed to test t-knowledge in online e-government services employing a sample of 307 citizens who used the benefits advisor tool provided by a Spanish City Hall. The results suggest that the core constructs of TAM (perceived usefulness, ease of use and attitude) significantly affect t-knowledge. This study also reveals a general support for t-knowledge as a determinant of citizen engagement

Spatial spillovers in public expenditure on a municipal level in Spain

A key function of local governments is to provide a wide array of public services. The supply of these services has been found to create spatial spillovers among neighbouring municipalities. Although it is generally agreed that spillovers are present in models that explain government expenditures, their type—whether endogenous, exogenous or residual—and sign—whether positive or negative—remain ambiguous. In most cases, a subjective process is used to select the type of spatial regression model used in analysis, with mixed results. Per capita expenditures of ten subprogrammes (Security, Housing, Welfare, Environment, Social services, Employment promotion, Health, Education, Culture and Sport) are analysed for all Spanish municipalities with more than 5000 inhabitants in the 2010–2012 period. A Spatial Seemingly Unrelated Regression methodology in a panel framework is used to incorporate correlation between different subprogrammes and spatial dependence. Our results show that the three types of spatial effects are present. Furthermore, substantive dependence is positive in most cases, while negative residual dependence is observed in some.We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of three anonymous reviewers in helping us improve the quality of this paper. Prof. Fernando A. López , grateful for the financial support offered by the projects from Programa de Ayudas a Grupos de Excelencia de la Región de Murcia, Fundación Seneca (#19884-GERM-15) and Ministry of Economy and Competiveness (ECO2015-651758)

Linking knowledge corridors to customer value through knowledge processes

Purpose – Spanish banks which took rescue packages are trying to find innovative ways to improve customer value. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which banks combine external knowledge with internal knowledge to build customer value. Design/methodology/approach – A firm’s knowledge corridor is an organizational capacity, referring to the ability to absorb external knowledge and utilize it in generating innovative outputs. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of knowledge transfer and knowledge storage/retrieval processes as bridges between ‘‘potential absorptive capacity’’ and ‘‘realized absorptive capacity’’ and its effects on the application of knowledge through an empirical investigation of 76 banks. Findings – The results are calculated using structural equation modelling. This leads to the main conclusion that a ‘‘realized absorptive capacity’’ is unlikely without being fostered by the transference and storage of new knowledge and it therefore requires empowerment by its facilitating factors. Practical implications – The key managerial implication of this paper is that the survival and success of banks requires that administrators and the organizations they manage meet the challenge of combining external knowledge with internal knowledge. Originality/value – This paper provides empirical support for the argument that the impacts of external knowledge move up from the individuals to groups and then the entire organization. This interaction represents a single-loop learning processMinisterio de Educación ECO2011-28 641-C02-0

Environmental knowledge management: A long-term enabler of tourism development

A review of the literature confirms that there is a need for knowledge management frameworks which support knowledge creation, particularly in those organisations having to operate in a changing environment. Socialisation, externalisation, combination and internalisation continue to be key processes for the creation of knowledge which enables organisations to successfully address environmental challenges. This paper examines the relevance and importance of a SECI model as an enabler of the processes of reusing and updating the environmental knowledge of an organisation. The research reported has confirmed that time is a key component of the implementation of a SECI model in organisations operating in a changing environment. Thins been confirmed that such a strategy should focus on the reuse of prior environmental knowledge as a mechanism to establish within the organisation a context where new knowledge management processes are understood and adopted by employees. The paper also examines the relationship between environmental knowledge and organisational performance indicators. These relationships are examined through an empirical study of 87 companies in the Spanish hospitality sector. The results of the study indicate that environmental knowledge at any given time (T) is significant in predicting the knowledge management processes that may be successfully implemented at a later point in time (T + 6 years). (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Knowledge management practices and the enhancement of customer capital: the importance of time

Actualmente, los responsables de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) debido al hecho de tener que vigilar continuamente sus empresas a la búsqueda de mejoras en las relaciones con sus clientes y trabajadores, están otorgando un papel cada vez más estratégico a las prácticas de gestión del conocimiento. No obstante, hay situaciones donde las organizaciones y sus miembros se enfrentan a entornos cada vez más inciertos, por lo que es necesario reconsiderar las prácticas de gestión del conocimiento que se han venido desarrollando en la empresa desde sus inicios. Estas prácticas, en forma de procesos y rutinas, pueden basarse tanto en conocimiento tácito como explícito y también necesitan ser continuamente reconsideradas de cara a la captación de nuevo conocimiento. En tales circunstancias, sería necesario modificar e incluso eliminar parte del conocimiento existente al objeto de asegurarnos de que los empleados tienen acceso a conocimientos lo suficientemente actualizados como para que mantengan o garanticen las relaciones que las PYMEs tienen con sus clientes. Nuestro trabajo examina el impacto que un contexto de “mentalidad abierta” (openminded) en la organización existente en un momento dado (T) tiene sobre las actuaciones que intentan reconsiderar los conocimientos organizativos en un momento posterior (T+1). Analizamos además la relaciones entre los procesos de aprendizaje/conocimiento explorativo y aplicado sobre el capital relacional. Se utiliza para ello evidencias empíricas procedentes de 107 PYMES del sector de las telecomunicaciones en España, utilizando la técnica PLS.Actualmente, los responsables de las pequeñas y medianas empresas (PYMES) debido al hecho de tener que vigilar continuamente sus empresas a la búsqueda de mejoras en las relaciones con sus clientes y trabajadores, están otorgando un papel cada vez más estratégico a las prácticas de gestión del conocimiento. No obstante, hay situaciones donde las organizaciones y sus miembros se enfrentan a entornos cada vez más inciertos, por lo que es necesario reconsiderar las prácticas de gestión del conocimiento que se han venido desarrollando en la empresa desde sus inicios. Estas prácticas, en forma de procesos y rutinas, pueden basarse tanto en conocimiento tácito como explícito y también necesitan ser continuamente reconsideradas de cara a la captación de nuevo conocimiento. En tales circunstancias, sería necesario modificar e incluso eliminar parte del conocimiento existente al objeto de asegurarnos de que los empleados tienen acceso a conocimientos lo suficientemente actualizados como para que mantengan o garanticen las relaciones que las PYMEs tienen con sus clientes. Nuestro trabajo examina el impacto que un contexto de “mentalidad abierta” (openminded) en la organización existente en un momento dado (T) tiene sobre las actuaciones que intentan reconsiderar los conocimientos organizativos en un momento posterior (T+1). Analizamos además la relaciones entre los procesos de aprendizaje/conocimiento explorativo y aplicado sobre el capital relacional. Se utiliza para ello evidencias empíricas procedentes de 107 PYMES del sector de las telecomunicaciones en España, utilizando la técnica PLS

Implementing telemedicine technologies through an unlearning context in a homecare setting

Despite the opportunities the health sector will offer as a result of the design and development of a technology infrastructure, the fact is that hospitals have been slow to adopt telemedicine technologies, largely because very few organisations are prepared to face this challenge. A possible explanation for the efficiency and effectiveness gaps of services provided by Hospital-in-the-Home Units (HHUs) may relate to the advantages and disadvantages of the knowledge processes that these units exhibit as a result of their different structural properties. This paper investigates the approaches that HHUs have used to update the knowledge of physicians and their members' knowledge of technology, and relates them to an unlearning context (UC) and improvement in the quality of health services. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 55 doctors and 62 nurses belonging to 44 HHUs. The research findings suggest that the key benefits of a UC in HHUs are clear. It enables them to identify and replace poor practices and also avoids the reinvention of the wheel; it enables cost reduction by minimising unnecessary work caused by the use of poor methods and it enables improvements adopting new telemedicine technologies.Ministerio de Educación CO2008-0641-C02-02Junta de Andalucía SEJ-608

From the Guest Editors: “Enterprise Social Media for Knowledge Management and Innovation in SMEs”

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Linking unlearning with innovation through organizational memory and technology

While the information technologies provide organizational members with explicit concepts, such as writing instruction manuals, the ‘organizational memory’ provides individuals with tacit knowledge, such as systematic sets, routines and shared visions. This means that individuals within an organization learn by using both the organizational memory and the information technologies. They interact to reduce organizational information needs contributing to improve organizational innovativeness. However, the utilization of the organization memory or the technology infrastructure does not guarantee that appropriate information is used in appropriate circumstances or that information is appropriately updated. In other words, previous memories reflect a world that is only partially understood and assimilated, which might lead individuals to doing the wrong things right or the right things wrong. This paper examines the relative importance and significance of the existence of unlearning to the presence and nature of ‘organizational memory and technology’. We further examine the effect of the existence of organizational memory and information technology on conditions that promote organizational innovativeness. These relationships are examined through an empirical investigation of 291 large Spanish companies. Our analysis found that if the organization considers the establishment of an unlearning culture as a prior step in the utilization of organization memory or the technology infrastructure through organizational innovativeness, then organization memory and technology have a positive influence on the conditions that stimulate organizational innovativeness

An Integrative View of Knowledge Processes and a Learning Culture for Ambidexterity:Toward Improved Organizational Performance in the Banking Sector

Banks are the backbone of the financial sector and catalysts in the economic development of any country. Current changes in their global business ecosystem make knowledge of about the fund-supplying and fund-demanding parties of the society a key resource for the fulfillment of banks' investment and saving functions. This paper addresses the relationship between the performance and a learning culture that is supported by knowledge processes within the organization. Given the relevance of this subject for organizations from most knowledge-intensive domains, this research has focused on the Spanish banking sector. Using a structural equation model, feedback received from 215 employees from 142 individual branches from a major banking institution in Spain is studied. The results of the data analysis show that in addition to maximizing on what is already known about the customer base, employees' learning about the potential new stakeholders and also about the internal strategies, tools, and techniques is directly related to the bank's performance, which, in turn, influences the economic recovery and socio-economic development. Results support that an active pursuit of learning within the context of the organization is required for banks to remain competitive in the dynamic, global business ecosystem, where international, national, and local banking sectors operate.The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding received from the Spanish Ministry for Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Research Project ECO2017-88987-R) and BMN to support the conduct of this research

An application of the performance-evaluation model for e-learning quality in higher education

The demand for e-learning in higher education is rising, competition is increasing, and universities are investing significant resources towards improving the quality of their e-learning offerings. Thus, effective quality measures for e-learning are urgently required. With the aim of following the total quality management practices of raising students' satisfaction and continuous improvement, a performance-evaluation model was applied in a sample of business students. The application of this model was useful for selecting the quality items that most urgently require improvement to achieve student satisfaction and for identifying the items of surplus resource investment, thereby helping to provide the means to minimise resource wastage. This way, an effective and efficient improvement plan to enhance the efficient use of resources in e-learning and to meet an adequate level of quality was established