Measuring knowledge management in a virtual chat room: A case study

Abstract

Many organisations deem the virtual workplace to be a solution to challenges such as global competition, accelerated product development, improved quality and customer service, to mention but a few. In spite of the success of virtual communities on the Internet and although a significant amount of research has been conducted on virtual organisations, very few studies have focused on the evaluation of the combined effects of the theoretical variables of knowledge management in virtual communities. Advanced web analytics have been used in some instances to test the content of virtual communities, like discussion forums, hat rooms and the like. Because a plethora of chat rooms are devoted to special interest topics that may implicitly contain information and insights on consumers, knowledge creation and sharing, it creates the ideal opportunity to measure the management of knowledge therein. The aim of this article is, therefore, to measure knowledge management in a virtual community (an online chat room of an academic institution). Firstly, the article propounds a brief overview of the theoretical underpinning of the study by proposing a conceptual framework for the measurement of knowledge management in virtual communities. Secondly, the methodology to measure the knowledge management in a chat room of an educational institution is outlined. Finally, the research results are presented and recommendations are made for future research.     

Social knowledge and the legitimation of the state: The Philippine experience in historical perspective

Social conditions have been recognized as a factor in the rise of social knowledge. The social knowledge produced creates a social reality characterized by its own justification for existence. Established intolerance and institutionalized suppression, for example, delineate what the guardians of society regard as dangerous and subversive, on one hand, and permissible, on the other. The purveyors of social knowledge, including the social sciences, in the Philippines from the Spanish colonial period to the present have borne much responsibility in this task of delineation. But more importantly, they have served, either willingly or unwillingly, to legitimize and validate the existing political order by elaborating on the political order's ideological basis, contributing to the formulation and implementation of policies, refusing to challenge the political order, or by simply being acquiescent to its presence. The Philippine experience reinforces the observation that objectivity is relative to the paradigm to which the practitioner belongs. In the wake of the postbehavioral movement in the social sciences, the social scientist's role in the Philippines, like that of his or her counterparts in the West, is influenced not so much by the drive to be objective, but, rather by the need to choose between competing values that would ultimately determine his or her relevance to society.     

Deploying EU military crisis management operations: a collective action perspective

This article will work towards a multi-level collective action approach for understanding the deployment of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) military operations. It is multi-level because it uses three levels of analysis: firstly, the international level, where events that create threats to certain values catalyze the process leading to the deployment of an operation; secondly, the national level, where EU governments formulate their national preferences towards prospective deployments based on utility expectations; and thirdly, the EU level, where EU member states negotiate and seek compromises to accommodate their different national preferences. The strength of the model will be demonstrated through empirical case studies on the deployment processes of EUFOR Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina and EU NAVFOR Atalanta off the coast of Somalia. The article will also provide an overview of the existing theoretical literature on the deployment of CSDP military operations.     

Homo Nationis: The Psycho-social Infrastructure of the Nation-state Order

The central argument of this article is that the global expansion of sovereign nation- states has been accompanied by the emergence of a particular type of modern individual, homo nationis. The general significance of this argument lies in the fact that this personality type, which is either taken for granted (untheorised) or ignored, constitutes an integral component of modern social order. That is, in addition to the constitutional and institutional foundations of the state and its political economy, the nation-state has a psycho-social foundation--a "national habitus". The concepts of homo nationis and national habitus underscore the notion that modern individuals are historical individuals, i.e. they have personality structures that are unlike those of individuals in other historical epochs, and that they should be explicitly conceptualised as such, rather than as a transhistorical homo oeconomicus or homo sociologicus. Many fundamental social processes, including those discussed under globalisation, can be better explained with such a conception. The historical- structural context for homo nationis is the world order of nation-states that has only recently finished formally incorporating all other social formations from tribes to the remnants of empires, as well as the specific state-society to which the individual belongs. The article notes the interest that Durkheim and Weber had in habitual behaviour and draws on the exemplary work of Norbert Elias on national habitus to sketch its conception of homo nationis. The article then assembles further evidence for the existence and significance of national habitus by perusing a diverse set of scholarly literatures, including national culture in business studies, national economies and economic nations, nationalism, comparative sociology, and normative political theory.     

Communicating on the edge of chaos: a transformation and change management perspective

SUMMARY

‘What is chaos, that we should be mindful of it?’ (Josepth Ford).

Chaos will always be a mystery. Perhaps the ultimate, allencompassing mystery. To paraphrase Churchill's famous remark, it is a paradox hidden inside a puzzle shrouded by an enigma. It is visible proof of existence and uniqueness without predictability.

In the Greco-Roman tradition philosophers used logic and introspection to impose mental order on the universe. Newton, Francis Bacon and the scientists of the Renaissance chose a different path when attempting to find truth and understanding nature. In the twentieth century Einstein, Bohr and others (with quantum physics and mechanics) changed the path again, making reality even more subtle and complicated. Then, in the past twenty years, along came chaos theory. This theory, and the ways that natural processes move between order and disorder, brings us closer to understanding the planetary orbits, the shape of clouds, that phenomena never repeat themselves exactly, and even the complexity of changing and learning organisations. It is the insights and extensions of chaos theory that could carry us technologically, philosophically, socially and individually into the Age of Aquarius and possibly through our own African Renaissance.

Most managers are naturally susceptible to wishful thinking. They believe what they want to believe in spite of obvious evidence to the contrary. They try to forcefully manage and control to create balance and order in the workplace. The time has arrived for South African business leaders, managers and corporate communicators to buy into the notion that a butterfly stirring the air in Johannesburg can create a twister in New York!

This article describes chaos theory and examines how it can be utilised to provide insights into managing and communicating during times of change in chaotic organisations.     

The emerging international system: A European perspective

The author describes the breakdown of the international system of the mid‐twentieth century as unique in nature and consequences. The situation of bipolarity, characteristic of the Cold War years, has disappeared. Power has diffused greatly, making predictions as to what kind of international system will emerge difficult. Two models of possible developments in the international system are presented. In one, a tripolarity between the United States, China, and the USSR develops. In the other, there arises a five‐power multiple balance comprising China, Japan, the USSR, the USA and a unified Europe. The latter model is seen as the more hazardous, for its emergence would be a consequence of the breakdown of the spirit of coalition presently obtaining between the Atlantic powers and Japan and the proliferation of nuclear powers.     

A new conceptual framework to strengthen internal corporate image: A stakeholder-inclusive perspective

The potential influence that internal stakeholders’ image of the organisation could have on external stakeholders’ image of the organisation, is strongly supported in the literature. This research project attempted to address the need for an approach that facilitates employee engagement, coupled with a leadership approach that allows collaboration, inclusion and cooperation within the organisation, to strengthen internal corporate image. This article reports on the results of the second phase of this research project, where a proposed stakeholder-inclusive conceptual framework for strengthening the internal corporate image, built from a stakeholder-inclusive perspective as depicted in the King III report on corporate governance, was explored in practice. A quantitative, self-administered web-based survey was conducted with the 2014 winners of the Deloitte Best Company to Work For (BCTWF) survey. The results not only indicated that these organisations’ practices resonate with the proposed stakeholder-inclusive framework, but also that the principles of the framework, namely stakeholder theory; integrated internal communication; peace arena; stakeholder engagement by means of the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard (AA1000SES) and responsible leadership and stewardship correlate with one another. The stakeholder-inclusive conceptual framework expands on the body of knowledge on corporate image and provides corporate communication professionals with a guide for strengthening their organisation’s internal corporate image, which could serve as starting point for strengthening the external corporate image and eventual corporate reputation.     

On seduction (and flirting) in the twenty-first century: A communication-theoretical perspective

Abstract

This paper draws on a mathematics audit of a South African newspaper to make a quantitative assessment of numerical accuracy in that local paper. It attempts to answer three research questions: how often do news reports in a daily newspaper include a quantitative element? How often do mathematical errors occur in those reports? What types of mathematical errors occur in those reports? Twelve consecutive weekday editions of the Cape Times, a daily newspaper based in Cape Town, South Africa, were examined to measure the frequency of quantitative elements in news reports, the frequency of mathematical errors in those reports containing quantitative elements, and the types of errors that occur. The data revealed that a large proportion of news reports include a quantitative element, supporting the hypothesis that journalists need to be mathematically literate. News reports with a quantitative element had a high rate of numerical errors, mostly due to a lack of ability in or attention to basic arithmetic. The findings raise questions about the numerical competency of South African journalists and concerns about the ability of the South African media to perform their normative role within a developing democracy.     

Balancing Theory versus Fact, Stasis versus Change: A Look at Some Introductions to International Relations

Do dramatic events in international relations (IR) signal fundamental changes in political behavior? How do international relations texts address change, and what are the implications of textbook design for the way that we teach undergraduate introductions to the field? This article provides an initial inquiry into these questions by surveying a sample of five international relations texts. Rather than seek to pick the best book, the article examines the methods by which the textbook authors balance theory versus facts, as well as stasis versus change, in formulating introductory frameworks. This analysis is motivated by way of a general comparison of the sample texts with Organski's (1958) text, World Politics . Finally, the author discusses the strengths and weaknesses of different balancing strategies, and the implications of these strategies for teaching introductions to international relations.     

A conceptual framework of corporate online communication: A marketing public relations (MPR) perspective

Abstract

This study identifies attributes that are perceived by online communicators as contributing to the effectiveness of corporate online communication. A marketing public relations (MPR) perspective is applied to assess the contribution of credibility, trust and long-term relationships to effective corporate online communication.

Q methodology is used as the research method and Q sorting as the means of data collection. Credibility, trust, long-term relationships and their composite factors are tested among 20 communicators and 20 receivers of corporate online communication. The participants' sortings of statements are first compared by means of Q factor analysis and then analysed. Four factors are ultimately identified that are perceived to contribute to effective corporate online communication by communicators and receivers: trust, responsibility, efficiency and meaningful relationships.     

Political representation in India: Enlarging the perspective

ABSTRACT

Democratic theory has recently been marked by a renewed interest in political representation that is manifest in, and proceeds from, a series of theoretical works that radically open up the concept of representation. This introductory article briefly presents some of the key theoretical propositions that are brought forward by this body of literature, but also by anthropological works on South Asia, namely (i) the intrinsic plurality of the meanings and forms of political representation; (ii) the centrality and pervasiveness of representation processes in political life; and (iii) the constructivist dimension of political representation. As I introduce the four papers in this Special Issue, which collectively demonstrate the heuristic value of an engagement with such debates to understand contemporary Indian politics, I insist that what is at stake is not so much a “crisis” of political representation as a series of events and evolutions that question received knowledge about political representation in India.     

Funding development in Rwanda: the survivors' perspective

Why has the humanitarian world already forgotten the people of Rwanda? And why do the survivors of the Rwandan genocide continue to be sidelined, particularly those women who were raped and deliberately infected with HIV/AIDS in a campaign of systematic sexual violence? The focus of humanitarian organisations shifted from Rwanda after 1994, and these women – most of whom have to maintain their households alone – are needlessly dying because they have no access to treatment. Humanitarian and development efforts will not achieve lasting benefits without better coordination and the ability to act on lessons learned.     

Donkeys in development: welfare assessments and knowledge mobilisation

Donkeys provide important means of agricultural power, transport, and income generation for people in the developing world. Yet donkeys work in harsh environments and challenging socio-economic contexts whereby their health and well-being is often compromised. This article provides development researchers and practitioners with a donkey welfare assessment protocol merging natural and social science and emphasising a community-engaged approach. It focuses on the donkey's condition and on human attitudes and broader dynamics that shape particular welfare outcomes. A holistic understanding of donkey welfare issues is vital to ensuring appropriate and effective development interventions for the benefit of humans and their animals.     

Exploring the representation of xenophobia in a South African television drama series: A Zimbabwean audience's perspective

Abstract

A great deal of research has been conducted on minorities and their representation in the media in various parts of the world (Evra 2004: 67; Miller 1996; Vicsek & Markus 2008: 124). Fundamentally, the reason for this is political, as ‘the cohesion or rupture of a social world depends on relations among groups who perceive themselves as disadvantaged either as groups or as individuals’ (Staiger 2005: 13). Television programmes, as elements of the media, are a source of information that contributes to these perceptions. Many scholars are of the view that television creates, reflects and reinforces social relations and functions as a mediation of the social world (Evra 2004: 13). In South Africa relatively little research has been conducted on the representation of minorities in local media. Particularly the representation of black immigrants and their representation on South African television has been largely ignored (Kiguwa 2008: 67; Nyamnjoh 2006). The focus of this article is not on the analysis of the representation of foreigners on television, but rather on how a specific group of viewers perceives the representation of Zimbabwean immigrants in the drama series Usindiso (Redemption), broadcast on the South African Broadcasting Corporation's SABC1. The central research question posed by this article is: How does a selected group of Zimbabwean immigrants living in Hillbrow in South Africa perceive the representation of Zimbabwean immigrants in Usindiso?     

透视俄罗斯百年财政中的五次“预算困境”

纵观古今中外财政历史,俄罗斯无疑是最具有典型"惊心动魄"特征的国家之一.本文选择了"预算困境"这一角度,试图通过回溯俄罗斯百年财政中国家预算在立法机构的五次受困,来展示财政发展的波澜起伏乃致于"惊心动魄";同时,更希望挖掘现象背后所隐含的深刻的社会经济政治因素,说明预算"夭折"或"难产"情况下所暴露出的财政问题和社会经济政治稳定、发展之间的相关性.