Knowledge management in environmental impact assessment agencies: a study in Quebec (original) (raw)

A Methodological Framework for Evaluating Knowledge Management in the Public Sector

Knowledge is an important tool that companies use worldwide to improve their efficiency. Managing knowledge has received considerable interest among researchers as it increases the performance of the organization. Since our time is recognized as the era of the knowledge economy, it is important, not only for private but also for public organizations, to understand the importance of Knowledge Management (KM) and to focus on implementing KM practices to achieve better efficiency and to improve the quality of the services provided. The employees of the Prefecture were chosen as case study. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether Knowledge Management (KM) activities are used in the Prefecture. This paper assesses whether specific characteristics of the employees affect their responses. This study also investigates how employees understand KM, its importance, its benefits and difficulties. A quantitative survey was selected to investigate KM in the Prefecture. The link of the questionnaire was emailed and completed online from 153 employees. The results show that employees' responses are affected by particular characteristics such as position of responsibility and years of service in the Prefecture. The findings also reveal that the majority of respondents ignore the existence of a KM Strategy in the Prefecture and associate KM with benefits such as improvement of efficiency and response to customers' needs. The study, which is the first in the Greek public sector, also provides valuable information about KM in the Prefecture as it presents a framework for the assessment of KM enablers.

A Review of Knowledge Management in the Public Sector: A Taxonomy

2015

Purpose-Public organisations today face management challenges to cope with current markets in what's known as a knowledge era. They primarily face adaptive challenges. Changes in communities, markets, business behaviour, competition, and most importantly technology around the globe are forcing all organisations to clarify their strengths, develop knowledge strategies, and learn new ways of managing their human capital. Governmental organisations also exhibit tendencies towards unusual and bureaucratic cultures mired in hierarchical structures, which create peculiar challenges that confront Knowledge Management (KM) efforts within the public sector. As public firms attempt to effectively manage their knowledge, organisational culture and structure have been identified as crucial defining factors in the successful assimilation and dissemination of knowledge. Often the toughest task for managers in effecting change in the public sector is mobilising people throughout the organisation to do adaptive work. The purpose of this article is to review the body of public sector research available in a KM context with a view to ascertaining and classifying previous research efforts and then identifying critical issues and avenues for future thinking. Design/methodology/approach-This working paper marks the first phase of a review which encompassed all publications pertaining to the public sector within most cited KM peer-reviewed journals (i.e. Journal of Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Research and Practice). A total of 80 articles addressing the public sector and published in peer-reviewed academic journals were carefully analysed and classified according to their nature, purpose and scope within a KM context. Originality/value-A new threefold taxonomy of published research in the public sector domain is presented in order to provide researchers and practitioners with new insights for theory and practice. It also identifies a number of imperative issues that need to be addressed within this area. Findings/Implications-Ideally, this review will prompt a more objective look at KM studies performed within public sector organisations. These studies can be classified into three main types; Descriptive, Prescriptive, and Attributional studies. Although descriptive studies offer illustrative narrative accounts of KM initiatives in the public sector, they appear to be short in providing conclusive recommendations. Prescriptive studies, on the other hand, propose frameworks that are tailored to enhance KM within the public domain and attempt to overcome its sector-specific obstacles. Finally, attributional studies investigate the effect of specific public sector organisational characteristics on the success or failure of KM. There is a great need for continuity of research in KM with emphasis on the public sector and for new good approaches where theory-practice gaps are apparent.

The Realm of Knowledge Management at the Public Sector

One of the main implications of the advances in knowledge is that we are in a context of continuous restructuring, at the national, regional, sectoral, firm, and organizational levels. Knowledge management is of large potential issue and value added to administration, governance, and application to citizens. Knowledge management is relevant as well to the information communication technology and eServices. Information Communication Technology can influence working, learning, and other processes as an enabler and/or a tool. Access to information is a power. Governments produce huge volumes of information and an increasing amount of it is available through electronic venues, the Internet, and other electronic means. Good, effective public governance helps to strengthen democracy and human rights, to promote economic prosperity and social cohesion, to reduce poverty, to enhance environmental protection and the sustainable use of natural resources and to deepen confidence in government ...

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT IN STATE ADMINISTRATION ORGANS IN THE FIELD OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Even though the term knowledge management is a recent term which has not been sufficiently explored in science, it is already now clear that it represents a significant resource in improving the economic performance of business entities. Knowledge management is important for the state itself, or the state administration. The aim of the state administration is not making profit, but "providing services" for citizens. Therefore, a special challenge is understanding the concept of knowledge management in the organs of state administration and exploring its role in these organs. The organs of state administration contain a special regime of labor relations which are governed by separate regulations and which is significantly different from the general regime of labor relations. Bearing in mind this fact, knowledge management in the state administration is a demanding task. And, as the issue of environmental protection is becoming increasingly relevant, the paper will perform an analysis of knowledge management in the state administration organs in the field of environmental protection in the Republic of Serbia through the recognition of the personnel system, its role in the management of personnel and, consequently, knowledge management.

Knowledge exchange: a review and research agenda for environmental management

Environmental Conservation, 2012

"There is increasing emphasis on the need for effective ways of sharing knowledge to enhance environmental management and sustainability. Knowledge exchange (KE) are processes that generate, share and/or use knowledge through various methods appropriate to the context, purpose, and participants involved. KE includes concepts such as sharing, generation, coproduction, comanagement, and brokerage of knowledge. This paper elicits the expert knowledge of academics involved in research and practice of KE from different disciplines and backgrounds to review research themes, identify gaps and questions, and develop a research agenda for furthering understanding about KE. Results include 80 research questions prefaced by a review of research themes. Key conclusions are: (1) there is a diverse range of questions relating to KE that require attention; (2) there is a particular need for research on understanding the process of KE and how KE can be evaluated; and (3) given the strong interdependency of research questions, an integrated approach to understandingKE is required. To improve understanding of KE, action research methodologies and embedding evaluation as a normal part of KE research and practice need to be encouraged. This will foster more adaptive approaches to learning about KE and enhance effectiveness of environmental management. Keywords: adaptive comanagement, decision-making, environmental management, evidence-based conservation, knowledge exchange, knowledge management, knowledge transfer, participation, research impact, social learning" doi:10.1017/S037689291200029X

Five principles for the practice of knowledge exchange in environmental management

Journal of Environmental Management, 2014

This paper outlines five principles for effective practice of knowledge exchange, which when applied, have the potential to significantly enhance the impact of environmental management research, policy and practice. The paper is based on an empirical analysis of interviews with 32 researchers and stakeholders across 13 environmental management research projects, each of which included elements of knowledge co-creation and sharing in their design. The projects focused on a range of upland and catchment management issues across the UK, and included Research Council, Government and NGO funded projects. Preliminary findings were discussed with knowledge exchange professionals and academic experts to ensure the emerging principles were as broadly applicable as possible across multiple disciplines. The principles suggest that: knowledge exchange needs to be designed into research; the needs of likely research users and other stakeholders should be systematically represented in the research where possible; and long-term relationships must be built on trust and two-way dialogue between researchers and stakeholders in order to ensure effective co-generation of new knowledge. We found that the delivery of tangible benefits early on in the research process helps to ensure continued motivation and engagement of likely research users. Knowledge exchange is a flexible process that must be monitored, reflected on and continuously refined, and where possible, steps should be taken to ensure a legacy of ongoing knowledge exchange beyond initial research funding. The principles have been used to inform the design of knowledge exchange and stakeholder engagement guidelines for two international research programmes. They are able to assist researchers, decision-makers and other stakeholders working in contrasting environmental management settings to work together to co-produce new knowledge, and more effectively share and apply existing knowledge to manage environmental change.

Effective risk governance for environmental policy making: A knowledge management perspective

Environmental Science & Policy, 2014

Effective risk management within environmental policy making requires knowledge on natural, economic and social systems to be integrated; knowledge characterised by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. We describe a case study in a (UK) central government department exploring how risk governance supports and hinders this challenging integration of knowledge. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were completed over a two year period. We found that lateral knowledge transfer between teams working on different policy areas was widely viewed as a key source of knowledge. However, the process of lateral knowledge transfer was predominantly informal and unsupported by risk governance structures. We argue this made decision quality vulnerable to a loss of knowledge through staff turnover, and time and resource pressures. Our conclusion is that the predominant form of risk governance framework, with its focus on centralised decision-making and vertical knowledge transfer is insufficient to support risk-based, environmental policy making. We discuss how risk governance can better support environmental policy makers through systematic knowledge management practices.

Knowledge Management in Government

OECD Journal on Budgeting, 2003

Tous droits du producteur et du propriétaire de ce produit sont réservés. L'OCDE autorise la reproduction d'un seul exemplaire de ce programme pour usage personnel et non commercial uniquement. Sauf autorisation, la duplication, la location, le prêt, l'utilisation de ce produit pour exécution publique sont interdits. Ce programme, les données y afférantes et d'autres éléments doivent donc être traités comme toute autre documentation sur laquelle s'exerce la protection par le droit d'auteur. Les demandes sont à adresser au :

A Knowledge Management Framework for Sustainable

The development and implementation of government policy, which we term 'policy work', is a complex challenge that needs to address cooperation and collaboration between multiple agencies and coordination of activities occurring at multiple levels within agencies, stakeholder organisations and the community. This paper describes an action-oriented Task-based Knowledge Management (KM) framework aimed specifically at building capability for policy work in order to address the challenges of a complex policy environment. Our research is conducted in the context of current capacity-building initiatives in Indonesia focused on the dual policy challenges of sustainable development and natural resource management. In this context our KM approach supports the consolidation of diverse information streams including formal (science) and informal (tradition, social norms, local lore), and provides the means to build a shared understanding of problems (natural resource management) and innovative solutions to those problems (sustainable management practices) involving all stakeholders.