Ubiquitous computing technologies are reaching a stage of technical maturity that is enabling their application in everyday business environments. As organizations increasingly adopt these technologies, such as radio frequency identification (RFID), a deeper understanding of their impacts on business process management and design will reveal innovative opportunities for organizations to leverage upon in achieving their objectives. The case of RFID adoption at the National Library Board (NLB) reveals how the technology has enabled deskilling, modularity, and motility in business processes. As a result, NLB has enjoyed higher levels of efficiency, developed novel and differentiated services, and achieved greater customer satisfaction.
The objective of this study is to provide a deeper understanding into the innovative approaches used in organizations to bridge the extensive gap between the general prescriptions of KM literature with actual initiatives formed in practice, revealing that what literature currently prescribes does not necessarily provide the organization with easier KM implementation. In particular, the notion of communities of practice (COPs) has received much popularity in literature, but little empirical evidence exists to demonstrate its actual application as a constitutive element of organizational KM agendas. A case study at National Computer Systems Pte Ltd (NCS) unearths the challenges in structuring, facilitating and assimilating both existing and new COPs into organizational KM agendas. Several important findings emerge from this study, including: (1
) the co-evolution of COPs with the implementation of organizational KM initiatives, (2) the development of a COP's structure, (3) the engagement of participants in COP activities, and (4) the role of top management in facilitating COPs. These findings have practical implications on the sustainability of such KM initiatives.Despite significant efforts in both research and practice, the management of organizational knowledge still provides numerous social and technical challenges to organizations, ranging from how to effectively embark on organizational knowledge management (KM) projects to evaluating and measuring their success in meeting strategic objectives (Plessis, 2007;King, et. al., 2002;Schultze and Leidner, 2002;Pan and Scarbrough, 1999). These efforts have resulted in several general prescriptions for organizational action, but the difficulties still experienced by organizations represents a gap in our understanding of the practical
For the Internet retailers that have managed to dominate through the dot.com fallout, the next step for many is to leverage the technology to expand their operations to a regional or global customer base. However, the internationalization of e-tail differs significantly from traditional retail because of the compounding effect of the Internet, and empirical studies are deficient in the field. This chapter studies the internationalization efforts of three small Internet retail enterprises, highlighting the issues they faced in expanding their operations to service an international customer base. The study reveals their insights and experiences in terms of access to foreign markets, infrastructure considerations, and localization strategies. Through an understanding of these issues, it is hoped that further research will shed light into the intricate relationship between internationalization and Internet retail and the factors that influence it.
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