Teaching:

Knowledge Management, master students business administration, February – March, 6 ects

Course objectives:

1) Learn about theoretical aspects concerning knowledge and organizations.

2) Gain hands-on experience with academic research (interviews and statistics) and consultancy practices (writing and presenting a report with findings and recommendations).

Content

Knowledge management is a relatively new field within organizations, both in practice as in terms of theory. Knowledge management is about ways to manage knowledge processes such that organizations are better able to learn. It is a multi-disciplinary field, using and contributing to theories on organizational strategy (e.g. ideas taken from the resource based theories of the firm) human resource management and development (e.g. addressing ways individuals and communities share knowledge and learn from each other) and from the field of information systems (how to support knowledge sharing and development with IT, such as intranets, expert finding systems).

Part I of the course concentrates on the theory of knowledge management. Students are asked to read various research articles on organizational learning; intellectual, human and social capital; critical aspects of managing knowledge; IT to support knowledge sharing and knowledge creations; social network analysis. This literature will be discussed in relation with various practical cases on knowledge management. This part of the course will be concluded with the writing of a theoretical paper in which the literature is combined.

Part II of the course concentrates on bringing the theory into practice by conducting knowledge management research at a company. Central to this research is a knowledge management scan. The scan is a research instrument that is used to analyse formal and informal knowledge management practices in organizations. By means of interviews and questionnaires, students are asked to analyse the present knowledge processes within an organization. Qualitative and quantitative (SPSS) analyses methods are used to diagnose the current practices. Students are asked to write a research report based on their findings and give recommendations for the future. In the end, students will present these findings and recommendations to the organization.

Reading:

Compulsory: Reader with scientific articles

Recommended reading: Huysman, M.H. and D. De Wit (2002) Knowledge sharing in practice, Boston: Kluwer Academics.

Grading

Individual case assignments (3) in total: 30%

Individual theory paper: 20%

Individual participation: 10%

End report 40%

Participation

Students are expected to come to class prepared. Preparation includes: hand in a completed assignment; familiarization with required readings and readiness to participate in class discussions. Non-attendance during part I of the course is only allowed once.

C Capita Selecta:

Master Business Administration April – May 6ects: Individual research projects on Knowledge and Organization. This can be combined with the Master Thesis.

D Supervision Bachelor theses and Master theses:

On topics related to Knowledge and Organization, IS and qualitative research, social dynamics of IS

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