Library

Influencing Skills for Records Managers: An Exploration of the Opportunity to Engage with Business

Dilnutt R. Accepted for presention and publication in the proceedings of The 11^th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture and Change in Organisations, 15 -17 June, Madrid Spain.

Risk mitigation and operational improvement are the general aims of the record keeping profession.  In the contemporary business environment the records manager strives to keep abreast of regulatory requirements, new standards and technical solutions.  Many business initiatives have record keeping implications but seldom is the records manager seen as a key contributor to the decision making process.

This paper explores the context of record keeping and argues a need for the records manager to be proactive in assuring that any record keeping implications are considered in business decision making.  It identifies opportunities for the records manager to make his/her voice heard through the investigation of the current change management practices.  The concepts of emotional intelligence and an understanding of the process of change offer techniques that the records manager can leverage to build the requisite relationships and recognition that will enable them to positively contribute to organizational decision making.

This study is the first exploratory step aimed at understanding and developing the records manager’s capability to improve the recognition of the importance of record keeping in contemporary organisations.  Subsequent research will explore the impact the adoption of emotional intelligence and an enhanced understanding of change have on successfully embedding record keeping practices into the organisational decision making process.

Strategic Leverage of Engineering Knowledge through Taxonomy Governance.

Dilnutt R. The 2nd International Multi-Conference on Engineering and Technological Innovation, 10-13 July 2009, Orlando, Florida, U.S.A.

This paper won a Best Paper award at the Conference and will be published in the forthcoming International Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics

In the heavy engineering industrial sector numerous technical standards, ISO (International Standards Organisation) in particular, exist which invariably contain a glossary of terms providing definition within the context of the standard. However, there is a high level of ambiguity surrounding common terminology and limited consistency across these standards.

Our case study company Silcar Pty Limited (Silcar) has recognized the opportunity to strategically expand its business into the provision of high value services to assist clients with the management of large and complex technical assets in heavy industry and essential service utilities. The strategic development of a knowledge management capability enables Silcar to take-on larger scale, higher value added and more flexible asset performance management proposition across a diverse range of industry, client and geographical situations.

Fundamental to the governance required is the establishment of a consistent taxonomy of terms and concepts that can underpin collaboration across the diverse portfolio of business interests. Consequently, the management of this taxonomy and associated thesauri is necessary to ensure the value and integrity of the 'knowledge library' and to make this knowledge available across the various technical dialects and languages.

To exploit knowledge embedded within the multiple and complex information systems and repositories, this taxonomy must be fully integrated with the technical architecture. This research paper explores the concepts that support this capability and discusses the approach taken to achieve the vision of consistency on language.

Knowledge Management in Secondary Education: A Case Study of an Australian Private School.

Dilnutt R. Presented at The International Conference of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management 24 - 27 June 2009. Forthcoming publication in The International Journal of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management

Knowledge Management has been of interest in the commercial and public sectors of our economies for over a decade. Paradoxically, it is observed that the education sector generally performs poorly when it comes to knowledge sharing and diffusion and has been slow to recognize the opportunity of knowledge management discipline.

This case study focuses on St Michael's Grammar School an Australian Independent School and how it has approached the issue of knowledge management with a view to improving operating performance.

The study concludes there are a number of opportunities for St Michael's' to improve productivity through the adoption of knowledge management practices. Further, given the limited adoption of knowledge management practice in the education sector generally St Michael's has the opportunity to build its profile as an innovative organisation and enhance its leadership reputation in the community.

Autopoiesis & Knowledge in Hierarchically Complex Socio-Technical Systems

Hall W, Nousala, S. This article will be published in the Proceedings of the 4th International Multi-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics: IMSCI 2010, June 29th - July 2nd, 2010 – Orlando, Florida, USA. 

Knowledge and the communication of knowledge are critical for self-sustaining organizations comprised of people and the tools and machines that extend peoples’ physical and cognitive capacities. Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela proposed the concept of autopoiesis (“self” + “production”) as a definition of life in the 1970s. Nicklas Luhmann extended this concept to establish a theory of social systems, where intangible human social systems were formed by recursive networks of communications.

We show here that Luhmann fundamentally misunderstood Maturana and Varela’s autopoiesis by thinking that the self-observation necessary for self-maintenance formed a paradoxically vicious circle. Luhmann tried to resolve this apparent paradox by placing the communication networks on an imaginary plane orthogonal to the networked people. However, Karl Popper’s evolutionary epistemology and the theory of hierarchically complex systems turns what Luhmann thought was a vicious circle into a virtuous spiral of organizational learning and knowledge. There is no closed circle that needs to be explained via Luhmann’s extraordinarily paradoxical linguistic contortions.

The Role of Change Management in Successful Information Management Solutions

Dilnutt, R. Presented as an Industry Senior Plenary at the HP TRIM Users Form 22, 24-26 March 2009.

The ability to manage unstructured information in the form of documents, emails, reports, drawings and graphics has increasingly been recognized as a core organizational capability. Further, projections indicate that the volume of information is growing at 25% per annum and in a tightening regulatory environment the need for an organizational information management capability increases markedly.

Common indicators precipitating the need for a disciplined approach to Information Management include: excessive time spent looking for information, an inability to organize information and potentially useful information is ignored/unavailable for decision-making.

Implementation of an information management capability is typically driven by a combination of needs for: Improved productivity; Compliance; and Mitigation of Business Risk. However, few organisations report that the implementation of IM solutions has been totally successful. This paper explores the role of change management in achieving success.

How the convergence of Integrated Information and Records Management Systems contributes to operational efficiency in higher education.

Dilnutt R. & Blennerhassett, H. Journal on Knowledge Culture and Change Management, Vol 7, 2007/2008.

Higher Education organisations have traditional managed records and documents through paper based files and physical archives. More recently we have seen the development of integrated information and records management systems that exploit web based technologies. There is an ongoing convergence of these technologies in the commercial marketplace related to information management solutions.

Our literature review reveals that there is a gap in our understanding specifically related to the higher education sector as to how an integrated information and records management infrastructure contributes to operational efficiency. Our unit of analysis is La Trobe University, Australia, and its attempt to justify the investment required.

This exploratory study identifies the business benefits that contribute to operational efficiency through the implementation of integrated information and records management systems and discusses the nature of the factors involved. The study concludes that there is an indirect link between sound information and records management practices and operational efficiency. As this study is conducted in a contemporary organisation the learnings contribute to our existing body of knowledge from a practical and theoretical perspective.

Creating a Knowledge Sharing Capability in the Malaysian Context.

Dilnutt R, Prof G Lakomski & J Singh. International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Vol. 7, 2007.

This paper provides an overview of the Malaysian work culture and identifies the issues and challenges with creating a knowledge sharing capability. Malaysia has a population of approximately 25 million people. This population is comprised of a diverse ethnic and racial mix of Malays, Chinese and Indians.

Each community has its own identity, beliefs and traditions and in an organization this diversity creates obstacles to creating a knowledge sharing capability as cultural values are reflected in the workplace by individual employees. It is important that managers of change understand these values as they impact on the ability to influence and create the incentive for change in work practices and behaviours.

Surviving the Information explosion.

Dilnutt R. IEE Engineering Management, February/March 2006

Contemporary organisations are driven by the need to improve productivity and to mitigate business risk. The ability to manage explicit information in the form of documents, reports, drawings and graphics is a key knowledge management capability and this capability to manage information has increasingly been recognized as a core organisational need.

Knowledge management has been developed as a capability in engineering firms since the mid 1990s with organisations such as Shell and BP recognising the value of sharing experience within their communities.

Knowledge management is concerned with providing people with current and accurate information within the context of their roles. The effective management of document based knowledge relies on technology infrastructures enabling people to create, store, and access documentation in a timely manner.

Enterprise Content Management: An Emerging Knowledge Management Capability.

Dilnutt R. International Journal on Knowledge Culture and Change Management, Vol 5, 2005/2006.

The ability to manage explicit information is a key knowledge management capability. Moreover, the capability to manage information is increasingly recognized as a core organizational need. Contemporary organizations are driven by the need to improve productivity and to mitigate business risk.

This study investigates vendor claims to be able to deliver integrated enterprise content management (ECM) through commercial product offerings as an enabler of knowledge management capability. In order to substantiate these claims, various technology components are identified and discussed in terms of functionality and value within ECM architecture.

The existing literature provides a theoretical background of ECM technologies specifically and technology convergence in general. Analysis of ECM functional attributes identifies the creation, storage and access to documents as the common focus of available technologies.

The findings have enabled the development of an ECM model that enables the assessment of technologies as components within an architectural framework.

The Role of Taxonomy in Knowledge Management.

Dilnutt R. International Journal on Knowledge Culture and Change Management, August 2003.

The discipline of knowledge management has evolved over the past decade with the first knowledge management initiatives being undertaken in predominantly large international organizations such as BP, Ernst & Young, McInsey's and other predominantly international organizations.

This paper explores the role and need for taxonomy as a key navigation and governance tool and a fundamental conceptual construct within the knowledge management discipline.

Observations made across a diverse sample of organizations indicate that taxonomy plays a significant role in the development of knowledge management strategy and subsequent implementations and operations. Primarily, taxonomy provides a starting point for communication about the knowledge asset about which a clear understanding is often limited.

Measuring Success in Knowledge Management: An Australian Case Study Perspective.

Dilnutt R. Proceedings of the International Conference on Comparative Management (ICCM), December 2003, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan.

There is a fundamental shift in the economic environment of developed nations away from tangible manufactured goods towards value added services. This has facilitated the emergence of knowledge management as a business discipline at the turn of the twentieth century.

A review of the literature developed the knowledge management process model. This model identified the processes of generation of knowledge, representation of knowledge, access to knowledge and transfer of knowledge as dependent variables. Further, the independent variables of organisational structure, organisational culture and technology infrastructure were identified as inhibitors or enablers of the knowledge management process.

A number of success factors related to organisational culture that inhibit or enable knowledge management were identified as being: responsibility for knowledge; knowledge resources; knowledge performance measures and staff development. The application of the diagnostic tool presented in this paper provides a practical starting point for managers to discover the state of knowledge management in the organization. Measurement and benchmarking of all success factors can provide invaluable insights into where to initiate action and allocate resources.

Knowledge Management: Three Case Studies.

Dilnutt R. International Journal for Accounting Information Systems, Boston, Spring, 2002.

Knowledge management has become a popular business management discussion topic over the past five years. Some of this discussion is no more than hype generated by software product vendors and consulting houses. However, there is a compelling value proposition holding that the intellectual capital of most organisations can be better managed to create internal efficiencies and external business opportunities.

This paper discusses three knowledge management initiatives recently undertaken in the Asia Pacific region that have delivered real business improvements with quantifiable benefits and demonstrable outcomes. Two of these case studies involve major Australian based financial institutions whilst the third relates to a Government Treasury Organisation.