Factors shaping organizational dynamics in strategic knowledge management

Knowledge as a valuable asset of organizations is increasingly incorporated into thinking about strategy. Studies of knowledge management (KM) suggest that executives engaged in decision making often have a slender understanding of the strategic significance of knowledge. When addressing the challenge of explicating and designing a knowledge strategy, logics of codification and personalization have been differentiated and commended. The paper draws upon evidence from four case studies to identify factors that shape the evolving contexts of knowledge strategies. It is in these contexts that the challenge of continuously reviewing and revising the mix of codifying and personalizing aspects of strategic KM is practically accomplished. The cases are analysed with reference to external competition, leadership, organizational politics, culture and technology as a basis for advancing a more dynamic framework for the analysis of knowledge strategies.     

Issues in the management of embedded knowledge in project-based organizations: the project actor’s role

Knowledge management (KM) in project-based organizations has received substantial attention in recent years, as knowledge processes are insufficiently supported within the organization as a whole. This study specifically focuses on the project actor’s role in managing knowledge. From an actor’s perspective, the problems raised by knowledge embeddedness are identified as a key issue to link project knowledge and organizational knowledge. A conceptual framework is developed that addresses three different aspects of knowledge embeddedness: a relational dimension, a temporal dimension and a structural dimension. Three cases are studied, covering varying forms of organizations in different areas (a consulting firm, an R&D department and an industrial business unit). The results concerning the relational dimension indicate that project actors re-build the network of relationships supporting knowledge. Regarding the temporal dimension, and specifically in their professional field, actors frame professional knowledge related to their project experience. However, actors fail to surmount the problems raised by the structural dimension of knowledge embeddedness. The resulting recommendations for KM concern both Human Resource Management practices and organizational design.     

The Voices of Single Parent Mothers Who are Homeless: Implications for Early Childhood Professionals

Single parent mothers who are homeless have distinct ideas about how to resolve their situations. This study explored the voices of single parent mothers who are homeless and attempted to articulate their major concerns and ideas as well as offering ideas to early childhood professionals related to these insights. The voices of these mothers are highlighted in this study and related to the findings of the research literature on homeless mothers. Finally, the implications for early childhood professionals are explicated and briefly discussed.     

Exploring Animal-Assisted Programs with Children in School and Therapeutic Contexts

Animal-Assisted programs with children are becoming increasingly popular in school and therapeutic settings. This article provides an overview of the benefits accrued by children as well as the concerns with programs which involve animals, and therapy dogs in particular, in these environments. Research over the past 30 years indicates that therapy dogs may offer physiological, emotional, social, and physical support for children. The distinguishing features of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) are characterized by the supplemental inclusion of a trained therapy dog in reaching an intervention goal in therapeutic environments, and as a supplement to an educational objective in school contexts. The general assumptions underlying AAT with children are that although therapy dogs are interactive, children seem to perceive them as non-judgemental participants who are outside of the complications and expectations of human relationships. This unique interaction may offer children a valuable form of social and emotional support in educational and therapeutic settings.     

In practice: The business of doing good: A creative collaboration

Matt Matsuda and David Williams report on a successful collaboration between academic and student services that resulted in a Rutgers University Byrne Seminar on social entrepreneurship.     

The challenge of continuation: Schools’ continuation of the Respect program

The Respect program is a whole school approach to prevent and reduce problem behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate which conditions in schools helped them to continue the program successfully after the end of the 1-year implementation period. The study also looked at the actual continuation after the program end. Especially, we looked at which strategies and structures promoted change beyond the implementation phase. The project groups at four Norwegian schools implementing the program were interviewed at the end of the implementation period and again 2? years later. The main findings suggest that involvement in the Respect program enables schools to implement change. However, it is challenging for the schools to continue the work afterwards. The one school that successfully continued the work after the program was characterized by strong and supportive leadership, leadership at many levels, they made plans and saw them through, renewed activities and new members of staff were introduced to and included in the work according to the program principles. These elements were more or less lacking at the other three schools, at least after the active program period. A main finding is that a 1-year program period is not long enough for most schools to implement and continue an extensive whole school program like Respect.     

The use of music to teach life skills to students with emotional disabilities in the classroom

This article discusses the teaching of life skills to urban American youths who are highly fascinated with the hip-hop culture--songs, raps, miming, lyrics, dressing and musical rhythms, especially individuals with emotional disabilities in the public schools. This is an instructional curriculum strategy to encourage positive and active participation of these students, promote perfect school attendance, encourage good behaviors, deal with anger management and motivate committed learning in the classroom. The instructors＇ understanding of students＇ culture, learning needs and styles, and using such background knowledge to educate them become imperative in this setting. These urge for innovative and leadership projects in the author＇s special education classroom necessitated the application of hip-hop music to teach life skills, reading and other functional skills in the classroom. The outcome was positive and rewarding to both the teachers and students. There are recommendations for interested teachers to devise creative teaching methods, differentiated instruction and appropriate classroom management practices to attain student achievement.     

Integration of spatial relationships and temporal relationships in humans

Three experiments tested human participants on a two-dimensional, computer, landmark-based search task to assess the integration of independently acquired spatial and temporal relationships. Experiment 1 showed that A-B spatial training followed by B-outcome spatial training resulted in spatial integration in such a way that A was effectively associated with the outcome. Experiment 2 showed that A-B spatial and temporal training followed by B-outcome spatial and temporal training resulted in integration that created both spatial and temporal relationships between A and the outcome. Experiment 3 refuted an alternative explanation, one that is based on decision-making speed, to the temporal-integration strategy that was suggested by Experiment 2. These results replicate in humans the observations regarding spatial integration made by Sawa, Leising, and Blaisdell (2005) using a spatial-search task with pigeons, and they extend those observations to temporal integration.     

The role of personal epistemology in the self-regulation of internet-based learning

The predictability of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs for self-regulated learning within Internet technologies was examined in a sample of 84 physics undergraduates. Dimensions of Internet-specific epistemic beliefs were found to explain unique variance in Internet-based search, help-seeking, and self-regulatory strategies, respectively. Specifically, students who emphasized that course-related knowledge located on the Internet consisted of specific facts and details perceived Internet-search and evaluation of search results to be less problematic and reported on more help-seeking and use of self-regulatory strategies during Internet-based learning. Moreover, students believing that Internet-based knowledge claims need to be checked against other sources, reason, and prior knowledge were reportedly more likely to use self-regulatory strategies when using the Internet during coursework. The results are discussed in light of what characterizes the Internet as a knowledge source.     

Voices of home and school on democracy and human rights education at the primary level: a case study

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceptions of home and school concerning ideally implemented primary democracy and human rights education. In this qualitative study, data were collected from six voluntary classroom teachers and 16 parents in a selected school through interviews. The results of the interview yielded five major themes: physical and environmental issues, instructional process, teacher characteristics, assessment practices, and communication patterns for teaching democracy and human rights ideally. Most of the participants also indicated the lack of partnership between home and school. The results showed that there are gaps between the existing and desired conditions of democracy and human rights education in schools.