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Barriers and Facilitators to Knowledge
Management: Evidence from Selected Indian Universities
-- Renu Vashisth, Ravinder Kumar and Abhijeet Chandra
Knowledge Management (KM) is a key ingredient of Research and Development (R&D) organizations and may contribute
to enhance the productivity in universities and other organizations involved in conducting research activities. This study shows
how researchers from university departments and research centers in India perceive the barriers and facilitators to KM. For this
purpose, three domains, namelyknowledge gathering, creation, and diffusion are considered in three dimensions of barriers and
facilitatorsindividual aspects, socio-organizational aspects, and technological aspects. Researchers from three universities and their
affiliated colleges and research centers situated in
Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region were surveyed for studying the barriers
and facilitators to KM systems in the Indian context. The findings suggest that researchers are more concerned with individual and
socio-organizational aspects of KM, rather than the technological aspect. People and their interactions create knowledge and promote
the flow of knowledge.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
The Relevance of Intellectual Capital in the Indian Information Technology Industry
-- V Kavida and Sivakoumar N
Information Technology (IT) is considered as an industry mainly driven by intellectual capital.
The emerging business models in the IT industry stand testimony for its innovativeness. Software as a distinct business model
has been the core segment of this industry. The emergence of this industry as a global industry is evident from its significant
contribution to the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The role of this industry is so pervasive that a new concept, "IT led economic
growth" has become popular. For a greater part of history, the role of India in the global economy was confined to that of being a supplier
of raw materials to the developed West. But from the last decade of the second millennium, India has become synonymous with the
IT industry. The meteoritic rise of the Indian IT industry has caught the attention of the developed countries of the West, to the
extent of influencing their economic policies. The remarkable growth and development of this industry has also created a strong
belief amongst many that, the driver of the knowledge economy of India is its IT industry in all certainty. Literature available on
knowledge economy and intellectual capital shows that intellectual capital is the preeminent resource of knowledge economy. Further,
intellectual capitala new genre of intangible asset, occupies the assets portfolio of the knowledge intensive industries, like the IT
Industry. However the fame of the Indian IT industry was marred by the collapse of Satyam Computers in 2008. Since then there is
an instinctive skepticism over the wealth created by the IT industry. This cynicism has compelled us to evaluate the key drivers
of performance of the Indian IT industry. In the present study we have evaluated the role of intellectual capital in the performance
of the Indian IT industry, with an objective to enlighten the general public at large and investors in specific, on the relevance
of intellectual capital in the Indian IT industry.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Intellectual Capital Disclosure Quality: Lessons from Selected Scandinavian Countries
-- Norman Mohd Saleh, Mohamat Sabri Hassan,
Romlah Jaffar and Zaleha Abdul Shukor
Intellectual Capital (IC) is a non-monetary asset that can generate future economic values in companies. Contemporary school
of thought has now begun to recognize the importance of non-financial factors, particularly IC (which is always off the balance
sheet) in addition to financial measures for investment decision. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to explore the implementation
issues of IC disclosure. Taking into account the legitimacy theory which underscores the importance of `social contract' between
an organization and the society, a series of in-depth interviews were conducted to investigate the issues related to the implementation
of IC guideline in Denmark and Sweden. The result shows that the central motive in disclosing the IC information is to
communicate corporate culture, strategy and future direction for the purpose of branding. The interview reveals that there are five other
secondary motives emerging from the incentive to communicate information to stakeholders, i.e., (1) to retain and attract quality
employees; (2) to retain and attract customers of company products; (3) to lobby for more synergetic collaborations with partners; (4) for
the society; and (5) to manage the perceptions of the capital market. Issues highlighted in this study can provide some guidance on
the implementation of IC disclosure in Malaysia and other parts of the world.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Product Planning Through HOQ:
An Algorithm
-- Nikhil Chandra Shil and Bhagaban Das
Quality Function Deployment (QFD) has successfully been used for product and production planning in Total Quality
Management (TQM) literature. Among the four phases in QFD methodology, product planning is the first phase. House of Quality (HOQ)
is a customary technique used in product planning which basically starts with the Voice of the Customers (VoC) which is
ultimately translated into design requirements. The target of HOQ is to plan the product in such a way that is demanded by the customers.
This paper seeks to present and explain an algorithm to construct the HOQ by an intelligent agent who is trained for such purpose.
© 2010 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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