Seminar Questions
Answers should be properly researched and consist of a synthesis of the student’s own views, the textbook, internet and offline sources. It is expected that an answer to a question would consist of 2-4 paragraphs (100-200 words). All work should be paraphrased (in the student’s own words) and properly referenced (in-text and at the end of the text) (Chicago Author Date) examples.
Part One of Assessment
Topic 1
1. What are the differences between knowledge, information and data? Give some examples. Provide your own definitions and some from the literature.
2. What are the differences between tacit and explicit knowledge? Provide some examples. What other kinds of knowledge are there?
3. Answer questions 1-3 p. 29. (Ernst and Young Case Study) (you will find the case study in the attachment with this order). A) What are potential ways forward to overcome the problem of an ageing workforce at Ernst & Young?
B) How would you codify critical knowledge of clients and industries currently being lost when employees retire?
C) What are the strengths and pitfalls of using social networking sites such as Facebook for Ernst & Young?
Topic 2 Organisational Learning
1. How does learning get transferred from individuals to groups to organisations? Give some examples for the University or an organisation you have worked in. Use the Crossan et al. 1999 framework cited in Jashapara 2004, p. 67 and 2011, p.134 to frame your answer.
2. What are the differences between single loop and double loop learning? How can an organisation encourage double loop learning? Provide some examples.
3. Define the term “organisational routine”. What are the advantages/disadvantages of routines? How do people influence routines (positives/negatives)? How do computer-based systems influence routines (positives/negatives)? Provide appropriate examples to illustrate.
4. Answer questions 1-3 on page 152 . (Case study – Toyota (Japan)) (you will find the case study in the attachment with this order).
A) What advice would you give Aklo Toyoda about the Toyota Tundra plants in North America?
B) How could you help improve Toyota’s learning and human capital?
C) What are the benefits and shortfalls of having contradictory viewpoints at Toyota? Topic 3 KM Tools and Technologies
1. Search for KM technologies and place them with justification into one or more of the five categories described in Chapter 4 (7) (organising, capturing, evaluating, sharing and storing knowledge). Try and find a specific technology and vendor with a brief description for each category. Into which category would Protege best fit? Into which category would Microsoft’s Sharepoint best fit? Into which category would SAP Business Objects best fit?
2. Define an ontology. Why are ontologies useful? How is an ontology similar/different to a taxonomy? Use an example with a UML diagram to show the difference.
3. What are the advantages of using an index for information retrieval? What is the Dewey Decimal Classification? Illustrate using the Jashapara text book as an example.
4. What are the benefits of virtual worlds such as Second Life for Royal Dutch Shell? What could be some drawbacks? (Jashapara, 2011, p. 224) (you will find the case study of Shell in the attachment with this order).
Topic 4 KM Systems
1. Complete questions 1-3 on page 255 (Case Study – Tata Consultancy Services) (you will find the case study in the attachment with this order). A) What advice would you give Mr N.Chandrasekaran about the potential strategic alliance with Cisco?
B) What are the current weaknesses in Tata Consultancy Services approach to knowledge management?
C) How could these weaknesses be improved?
2. Give an example of a commercial CRM software. How can CRM systems be used to achieve the ideal goal of one-to-one marketing? What incentives could be used so that customers provide regular, updated knowledge? What are the ethical issues particularly with regard to data collection? (Jashapara, 2011, p. 251)
Assessment Criteria
1. Referencing (in-text (author,date), End of text (alpha sort), Chicago as per Curtin Library (written communication)
2. Presentation (written communication) (spell and grammar checked, with word count, page numbers, references, and clearly sectioned)
3 Expression/Grammar/Spelling/Paraphrasing (in own words) (Needs improving?) (written communication) (Objective style? 3rd person use “the author” instead of “I”) (recommend CBS communication skills?)
4 Depth of Content (discipline knowledge) (synthesis of the student’s own views, the textbook, internet and offline sources) (an answer to a question would consist of 2-4 paragraphs (100-200 words) (Needs more depth? More examples?)
Name of textbook: Knowledge Management An Integrated Approach Ashok Jashapara Second Edition
