Reinventing the public sector in Africa through knowledge management

There is extensive coverage in literature of knowledge management (KM) implementation based on private sector entities. Although recent trends have been characterised by a shift towards understanding KM in the public sector organisations, there is very little focus on the public sector entities in Africa. KM has become popular in modern organisations because it is capable of enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of entities if properly implemented. While the explosion of the internet has seen the emergence of public sector transformation programmes such as e-government plans, most African states have wholly adopted these without due consideration to the structural constraints they would face in their implementation. Having observed that e-government is technology-based and most African states lack the necessary information technology (IT) tools to effectively implement it, my proposition in this paper is that the most viable option of transforming the public sector in Africa could be through KM, rather than e-government. Nevertheless, e-government plans in African states should be implemented as a component of the overall KM strategy.     

Content and knowledge provision service – a way to build intellectual capital in learning organizations

This paper presents the concept and the implementation of the Content and/or Knowledge Provision (CKP) service. The service is developed as a part of research within Intelligent Learning Extended Organization, an 7th Framework Program for R&D project in the area of technology-enhanced learning. The project aimed at enhancing cross-organizational Learning and Knowledge Building (LKB) practices at workplaces, leading to continuous growth of organization’s intellectual capital. By using the CKP service, employees can upload different kinds of knowledge assets into a knowledge repository, annotate them and (re-)discover relevant ones by performing semantic search over the knowledge repository. Hence, the service effectively serves as a content and knowledge-sharing facility and semantic search engine within a learning organization. Furthermore, CKP enables collaborative manipulation and annotation of knowledge assets in the repository, thus supporting all three components of intellectual capital.     

Managing supply chain knowledge-based linkages for improving operational performance

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the role of internal and external knowledge-based linkages across the supply chain in achieving better operational performance. It investigates how knowledge is accumulated, shared, and applied to create organization-specific knowledge resources that increase and sustain the organization’s competitive advantage. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a single case study with multiple, embedded units of analysis, and the social network analysis (SNA) to demonstrate the impact of internal and external knowledge-based linkages across multiple tiers in the supply chain on the organizational operational performance. The focal company of the case study is an Italian manufacturer supplying rubber components to European automotive enterprises. Findings – With the aid of the SNA, the internal knowledge-based linkages can be mapped and visualized. We found that the most central nodes having the most connections with other nodes in the linkages are the most crucial members in terms of knowledge exploration and exploitation within the organization. We also revealed that the effective management of external knowledge-based linkages, such as buyer company, competitors, university, suppliers, and subcontractors, can help improve the operational performance. Research limitations/implications – First, our hypothesis was tested on a single case. The analysis of multiple case studies using SNA would provide a deeper understanding of the relationship between the knowledge-based linkages at all levels of the supply chain and the integration of knowledge. Second, the static nature of knowledge flows was studied in this research. Future research could also consider ongoing monitoring of dynamic linkages and the dynamic characteristic of knowledge flows. Originality/value – To the best of our knowledge, the phrase ‘knowledge-based linkages’ has not been used in the literature and there is lack of investigation on the relationship between the management of internal and external knowledge-based linkages and the operational performance. To bridge the knowledge gap, this paper will show the importance of understanding the composition and characteristics of knowledge-based linkages and their knowledge nodes. In addition, this paper will show that effective management of knowledge-based linkages leads to the creation of new knowledge and improves organizations’ operational performance.     

Is social networking a waste of time? The impact of social network and knowledge characteristics on job performance

People use social media to help them solve problems and enhance performance. Users may engage in diverse social interactions online, increasing their knowledge base through both weak and strong ties. In this study we investigate the impact of social networks on job performance, focusing on knowledge quality and diversity based on social network theory and the knowledge-based view. The empirical analysis reveals that the strength of social network ties is strongly associated with knowledge quality in offline interactions, while social network diversity is associated with knowledge quality in online interactions. Knowledge quality acquired from social network has a significant impact on both creativity and productivity of job performance in the workplace. However, knowledge diversity acquired from diverse social network interactions is strongly associated with creativity, but not with productivity. The results of this study increase our understanding of the knowledge sourcing behaviors of workers.     

Linking social capital to organizational growth

In the current discussion of the intellectual capital, three main themes have been brought up: intangible assets, the dynamic capabilities to create and modify these assets, and the social relationships in which the knowledge processes take place, that is social capital. Within the latter view, knowledge is understood as a socially constructed and shared resource, and the focus is on the characteristics of the social relationships connecting the various actors and on the benefits these bring to the participants. Even though it is widely agreed that knowledge is essentially social by nature and that social capital does matter to the corporate bottom line, there are relatively few previous studies that have empirically examined the impact of social capital on organizational growth. To bridge this gap, the paper empirically examines how social capital residing in both intra-organizational and inter-organizational relationships of firms is related with organizational growth. The results suggest that contrary to the theoretical claims in the existing literature, social capital has only meagre role in promoting organizational growth.     

Detection of acute kidney injury in premature asphyxiated neonates by serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) – sensitivity and specificity of a potential new biomarker

Introduction

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is common in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In recent years, every effort is made for early detection of AKI. Our hypothesis was that serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (sNGAL) may be a reliable screening test for early diagnosis of AKI in premature neonates after perinatal asphyxia. Therefore, our aim was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of sNGAL for AKI in premature asphyxiated neonates.

Materials and methods

AKI was defined in the third day of life (DOL 3) as a serum creatinine (sCr) increase ≥ 26.5 μmol/L from baseline (the lowest previous sCr). According to the increase of sCr, AKI patients were divided in AKIN1 (sCr increase up to 1.9 baseline) and AKIN2 (sCr increase from 2.0 to 2.9 baseline). sNGAL levels were measured on DOL 1, 3 and 7.

Results

AKI was diagnosed in 73 (0.676) of 108 enrolled premature asphyxiated neonates. Sixty one patients (0.836) were classified in AKIN1 and 12 patients (0.164) in AKIN2. sNGAL reached the maximal concentrations on DOL 1 within 4 hours after admission to NICU, being higher in AKI compared with no-AKI group (160.8 ± 113.1 vs. 87.1 ± 81.6; P < 0.001) as well as in AKIN2 compared with AKIN1 group (222.8 ± 112.9 vs. 147.8 ± 109.9; P < 0.001). The best areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUC) for prediction of AKI were 0.72 [95% (0.62-0.80) P < 0.001] on DOL1 at 2h and 0.72 [95% (0.63-0.80) P < 0.001] at 4th hour after admission respectively. The corresponding sNGAL cutoff concentrations were 84.87 ng/mL (sensitivity 69.0% and specificity 71.9%) and 89.43 ng/mL (sensitivity 65.7% and specificity 74.3%).

Conclusions

In premature asphyxiated neonates sNGAL measured within the first 4 hours of DOL 1 is predictive of the occurrence and severity of AKI. Therefore, plasma levels of NGAL may be used for early diagnosis of AKI in these patients.Key words: serum neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, acute kidney injury, premature neonates, biomarker     

Evaluation of a new equation for estimating low-density lipoprotein cholesterol through the comparison with various recommended methods

IntroductionThe accurate estimation of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) is crucial for management of patients at risk of cardiovascular events due to dyslipidemia. The LDL is typically calculated using the Friedewald equation and/or direct homogeneous assays. However, both methods have their own limitations, so other equations have been proposed, including a new equation developed by Sampson. The aim of this study was to evaluate Sampson equation by comparing with the Friedewald and Martin-Hopkins equations, and with a direct LDL method.Materials and methodsResults of standard lipid profile (total cholesterol (CHOL), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) and triglycerides (TG)) were obtained from two anonymized data sets collected at two laboratories, using assays from different manufacturers (Beckman Coulter and Roche Diagnostics). The second data set also included LDL results from a direct assay (Roche Diagnostics). Passing-Bablok and Bland-Altman analysis for method comparison was performed.ResultsA total of 64,345 and 37,783 results for CHOL, HDL and TG were used, including 3116 results from the direct LDL assay. The Sampson and Friedewald equations provided similar LDL results (difference ≤ 0.06 mmol/L, on average) at TG ≤ 2.0 mmol/L. At TG between 2.0 and 4.5 mmol/L, the Sampson-calculated LDL showed a constant bias (- 0.18 mmol/L) when compared with the Martin-Hopkins equation. Similarly, at TG between 4.5 and 9.0 mmol/L, the Sampson equation showed a negative bias when compared with the direct assay, which was proportional (- 16%) to the LDL concentration.ConclusionsThe Sampson equation may represent a cost-efficient alternative for calculating LDL in clinical laboratories.     

A framework for collaborative knowledge creation

This article describes a framework for managing the life cycle of knowledge in organizations and how this framework can be used to support collaborative knowledge creation. The framework emerges from years of work with the laboratories and facilities that are under the direction of the United States Department of Energy. The article begins by describing the background of the work from which the framework emerged; this is followed by describing the problem of identifying the ‘right’ knowledge for the ‘right’ people at the ‘right’ time and how the use of performance objectives addresses this problem. Next, the life cycle of knowledge in organizations, the theoretical foundation of the framework, and the details of the implementation of the framework are described. Finally, a discussion section summarizes the framework and discusses future directions for enhancing and extending the framework for supporting collaborative knowledge creation in organizations.     

A Pragmatic Evaluation of the Theory of Information Ethics

It has been argued that moral problems in relation to Information Technology (IT) require new theories of ethics. In recent years, an interesting new theory to address such concerns has been proposed, namely the theory of Information Ethics (IE). Despite the promise of IE, the theory has not enjoyed public discussion. The aim of this paper is to initiate such discussion by critically evaluating the theory of IE.