Knowledge Work: Knowledge Worker Productivity, Collaboration and User Support
J.UCS Special Issue
Michael Granitzer
(Know-Center Graz and Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
mgrani@know-center.at)
Stefanie N. Lindstaedt
(Know-Center Graz and Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria
slind@know-center.at)
This special issue features extended papers from the International
Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies 2010
(I-KNOW 2010) held in Graz, Austria, September, 1-3, 2010. It
comprises seven articles focussing on various aspects of knowledge
work, namely knowledge worker productivity, collaboration and user
support.
The first two papers address the aspect of knowledge worker
productivity. The first paper is mainly concerned with the measurement
of knowledge worker productivity as regards experts in specific
professional domains. The results of an empirical study in different
industrial domains suggests that productivity itself is not useable as
performance indicator but that it is composed of multiple indicators
which additionally are of different importance for different
stakeholders. The second paper also states that knowledge worker
productivity - according to the authors composed of efficiency and
effectiveness - cannot definitely be measured and that therefore
representing dimensions have to be identified. Thus, different
dimensions are identified and it is shown how efficiency and
effectiveness can be measured on the basis of linguistic fuzzy
approach and DEA.
The next three papers discuss issues of collaboration and
communication. The first paper describes a framework for the design of
performance evaluation systems in collaborative networks. The idea
behind is, that participants propose criteria and indicators in order
to construct a shared conceptualisation of performance. The next paper
is concerned with how inter-organisational collaboration can be
enhanced by visual facilitation. In an experimental study the authors
assessed the advantages and disadvantages of visual facilitation in
inter-organisational teamwork where the research questions referred to
knowledge sharing quality, team performance, satisfaction and the
effects of aesthetic beauty on the estimated potential. The last paper
in this block focuses on communication as mechanism for intra- and
inter-organizational knowledge transfer. It discusses the concept of
clarity of conveyed knowledge and its effect on efficiency in
knowledge management in general and communication in particular. Ways
of how clarity can be pro-actively and systematically managed are
shown.
The last three papers are concerned with user support whereas the
first two have their focus on practice sharing and the last is about
intention aware systems.
The first paper is about the identification
of patterns as sequence of relevant actions resulting in critical
moments inĀ investigated practices. Building on the Trialogical
Learning Approach as well as related work in the fields of Data Mining
and Knowledge Discovery, Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning,
and Information Visualization, this paper suggests high-level
requirements for mirroring tools in support of practice transformation
and introduces a software tool called Timeline-Based Analyzer. The
second paper is concerned with the usage of personal learning
environments. It picks up the problem that users have varying
attitudes and experiences in using ICT in general and PLE software in
particular. The authors examine the relevant issues of capturing and
sharing good practices of PLE-based, collaborative activities and
introduce the concept of a pattern repository as a back-end service
for PLEs. The last paper discusses the consideration of intention in
the context of proactive user support mechanisms. Especially the
externalization of intention in task models is discussed. A framework
for intention-aware systems is presented in detail.
Finally, before you immerse yourself into this interesting readings,
let us thank the authors for their excellent contributions and also
thank the PC members of I-KNOW 2010 as well as external reviewers who
contributed with their reviewing efforts to this high quality special
issue.
Michael Granitzer and Stefanie N. Lindstaedt
Graz, March 2011
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