ECKM Mini tracks

The Mini Tracks for ECKM

• Knowledge Management in Agrifood Context
• KM and Practices in Family Firms
• Challenges for the Knowledge and Competencies of Managers and Engineers in the Industry 5.0 Environment
• Ethics and Management of Knowledge
• The Future of Knowledge Management: Trends and Challenges
• How to … Lessons Learned
• Knowledge Dynamics Toward Practical Wisdom and Organizational Spirituality
• Managing Corporate Reputation
• Futurizing the Intellectual Capital Theory

Knowledge Management in Agrifood Context

Mini Track Chair: Dr Walter Vesperi, Dr Marzia Ventura, University of Catanzaro, Italy & Prof Raquel Puentes Poyatos, University of Jaen, Spain

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Knowledge Management in Agrifood Context 

The enhancement of knowledge has assumed a crucial role for the competitiveness and survival of organizations. Organizations must increasingly base their competitive advantage on the enhancement of knowledge and on the ways in which it is created and shared. The paradigms of the knowledge economy need a revision for traditional sectors, such as agrifood.

The agri-food business system, is historically characterized by low-knowledge management practices. It is clear that the sector cannot traditionally generate new knowledge on its own; it therefore needs to go beyond its borders. In this way, knowledge begins to be acquired through inter-organizational relationships, thus generating new sustainable value. In short, the exploitation of academic knowledge in the organizational dynamics of agri-food companies can contribute to improving sustainable innovations and, in short, the value of the enterprise. This track wants to analyses the complex scenario and rapid transformations of agri-food business system and agrifood organization. The purpose of this mini-track is to deepen the aspects and concepts of knowledge management in agrifood organization. We welcome qualitative, quantitative, single and multiple case studies, experiments and theoretical studies.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Which novel and known transfer problems arise in new approaches to knowledge creation and sharing how do individuals resolve these challenges?
• What are unconventional forms and prevalent forms of organizing in Agrifood business?
• What is the nature and function of human agency in new approaches to knowledge creation and sharing?
• What is the nature and function of knowledge in new approaches to knowledge creation?
• How are knowledge creation efforts shaped by, and how do they shape new technologies?

KM and Practices in Family Firms

Mini Track Chair: Yong Wang University of Wolverhampton, UK & Walter Vesperi & Anna Maria Melina, “Magna-Graecia” University of Catanzaro, Italy

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on KM and Practices in Family Firms 

In recent years, scholars and practitioners have recognized knowledge as the most important resource in organizational processes and for this reason an extensive literature on strategic knowledge management (KM) has been consolidated. From this perspective, it becomes vital for the survival and success of organizations to facilitate the creation, storage, transfer and application of knowledge.

There are many studies on KM in family firms and insights concerning businesses in general. Few studies have focused on the transfer and sharing of knowledge between different generations. The purpose of this mini-track is to deepen the aspects and concepts of knowledge management in family firms. Theoretical, as well as practical contributions, are invited to this mini track.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• New trends in Knowledge Management Practices in Family Firms
• Knowledge transfer and knowledge translation dynamics in family and no-family firms
• Strategies, approaches, tactics and mechanism for generational succession
• Failures and success stories in KM in Family Firms

The best papers presented will be selected for quick review in the International Journal of Management Practice (IJMP, Inderscience). https://www.inderscience.com/jhome.php?jcode=ijmp

Challenges for the Knowledge and Competencies of Managers and Engineers in the Industry 5.0 Environment

Mini Track Chair: Assoc. Prof. Sebastian Saniuk, University of Zielona Góra, Poland

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Challenges for the Knowledge and Competencies of Managers and Engineers in the Industry 5.0 Environment 

Fourth industrial revolution and the digitization this has caused are having an effect on all areas of the economy and society. These changes can affect all areas of human life to an unprecedented degree. The fourth industrial revolution leads to changes in the employment structure; employees and managers need new competencies, skills and knowledge. Now, a key objective of much of the current research is to identify the critical knowledge and skills of the engineers responsible for implementing these technologies.

Modern research should consider aspects related to ensuring sustainable development of the economy, sustainable production and consumption, with particular emphasis on the evolving concept of Industry 5.0. This idea implies the return of the human factor to industry, i.e. increased collaboration between people and intelligent cyber-physical systems. The future industry means combining the smart industry with cognitive skills and critical-thinking employees.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Industry 5.0 – challenges;
• humanization of Industry 4.0 towards the Industry 5.0 concept;
• sustainable working environment;
• knowledge and skills development for Industry 4.0 and 5.0;
• resilience, sustainable development, human factor;
• challenges of the engineering education system;
• cognitive technologies;
• leadership skills for Industry 5.0.

Ethics and Management of Knowledge

Mini Track Chair: Prof Ali Hessami IEEE, UK

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Ethics and Management of Knowledge  

Managing knowledge requires activities and tasks throughout the knowledge life cycle. The traditional knowledge management focus on cost, economic value, process and technology has often missed on the consideration of human values, rights and social impact. It is these human values which really makes the management of knowledge such an interesting and complex area of research.

This track is intended to address consideration of ethics and human values in the knowledge life cycle processes, activities and tasks to render ethically aligned products, services and systems. The ideas surrounding this topic are diverse and varied so submissions are welcome from a number of topics

Theoretical, as well as practical contributions, are invited to this mini track. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Ethics in KM and emerging technologies
• Ethical analysis of KM activities
• Ethics aware KM
• Ethical considerations in Kowledge Sharing
• Social impact of KM
• Consideration of human values in KM

The Future of Knowledge Management: Trends and Challenges

Mini Track Chair: Dr Changiz Valmohammadi Islamic Azad University, Iran

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on The Future of Knowledge Management: Trends and Challenges  

Knowledge is power, and when harnessed well provides organizations with the ability to innovate and stay competitive in the ever-changing business environment. In the digital age, emerging technologies have affected every industry and organizations face a plethora of challenges, which have given rise to the need for a well-rounded knowledge management system. the biggest challenge in knowledge management is the amount of unstructured data generated every day that gets locked away in siloed applications. That is where the role of emerging AI technologies, including natural language processing and natural language generation, comes into being. A modern knowledge management system leverages AI technologies to capture, organize, and share business information conveniently. Therefore, this mini track solicits scholars and practitioners alike to presents the results of their scientific research in the following topics, though any other relevant topics related to this mini track is welcome.

Theoretical, as well as practical contributions, are invited to this mini track. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Improving Information Discovery with Knowledge Mining and AI.
• Faster Access to Knowledge with Knowledge Bots-
• Personalized Search Experiences
• The role of Seamless collaboration and Mobile Technology
• The applications of various tools in designing a Single Platform, such as Cloud-based Platform
• Design and application of friendly user-interfaces in KMs-
• Knowledge portals and their importance considering the role of Big Dat
• The connection between KM and business Intelligence (BI)

How to … Lessons Learned

Mini Track Chair: Andrew Herd, European Space Agency, The Netherlands

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on How to … Lessons Learned 

Academic investigation and case studies in to the (new technology) means for implementing effective Lessons Learned - which as has direct and positive implications for the means by which knowledge management is implemented.

Implementation needs to cover aspects of “people, process and technology” and these are approaching simultaneous solutions through the use of innovative and novel means. The key to success in lessons learned is to fully understand and address the interactive influence of these three aspects. As such it is key to provide not only effective processes and cultural interventions but also to apply the appropriate technology as the means provided.

I would very much welcome a focus on applied technologies in addressing the “people, process and technology” paradigm that is needed to be addressed for both effective and efficient lessons learned (and also knowledge management).

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• learned through
  •  “people”
  •  “process”
  •  “technology”
• Ways in which technology can be an effective means to implement “total” lessons learned
• Technology addressing people-based needs
• Technology addressing process-based needs

Knowledge Dynamics Toward Practical Wisdom and Organizational Spirituality

Mini Track Chair: Raysa Rocha and Paulo Pinheiro, University of Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Knowledge Dynamics Toward Practical Wisdom and Organizational Spirituality 

Spirituality has been rooted in Management. Its growth is related to a paradigm-shifting in academia and society. It influences organizational dynamics related to employees’ well-being, satisfaction, commitment, and knowledge sharing, among others. In addition, each culture and religious tradition affects spiritual expressions.

For centuries, practical wisdom (phronesis) has been a topic of interest in many fields, such as philosophy, psychology, and others. In the last decades, it has been investigated in management because developing organizational practical wisdom is a path to a humanized strategy, which is also necessary for the efficient and efficacy utilization of knowledge in the organization.

Leaders have a critical role in the development of spirituality and practical wisdom of/in organizations. Both constructs foster continuous innovation, creating shared value in terms of social good and economic value. Moreover, shared values developing collective knowing contribute to the journey towards a practically wise company. Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Knowledge dynamics and spirituality/practical wisdom.
• Collective knowing and spirituality/practical wisdom.
• Practically wise/spiritual leadership and knowledge dynamics.
• Knowledge dynamics and shared value creation.
• Relationship between religion/culture and knowledge dynamics.
• Knowledge dynamics and organizational social good.

Managing Corporate Reputation

Mini Track Chair: Francisca Castilla Polo & M. Isabel Sánchez-Hernández, University of Jaén & University of Extremadura, Spain

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Managing Corporate Reputation 

Corporate reputation and its management have become increasingly relevant in today's business landscape, given the key role that intangibles in general and reputation in particular play in today's business arena. Despite the expected benefits, research on the corporate reputation-performance relationship (mainly financial performance) does not show a conclusive relationship between both variables. One of the plausible reasons is that the metrics used to measure corporate reputation are not the most accurate and there are dimensions of this asset have not been covered by previous research. In a more concrete way, non-financial indicators are in the spotlight. In addition, new tools to assess corporate reputation are demanded in different business contexts such as small and medium companies (SMEs), or new hybrid business models in the social economy for instance, not covered by reputational rankings to date.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Sustainability reporting and its role within reputational management: cause and/or consequence
• Reputational rankings as a tool to assess Intellectual Capital
• New metrics for reputation based on non-financial indicators: ESG index, social impact measures
• Other business context to include into reputational research literature: SMEs, cooperatives, non-profit companies or business in the fourth sector.
• Reputation over time, causes and consequences of its management in a longitudinal way

Futurizing the Intellectual Capital Theory

Mini Track Chairs: Aino Kianto¹ and Sladjana Cabrilo², ¹School of Business and Management, LUT University, Lahti, Finland, ²I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

ECKM 2023 Mini Track on Futurizing the Intellectual Capital Theory 

Intellectual capital (IC) theory, which asserts that organizational value is for the most part created with intangible, knowledge-based resources, has become a prevalent way to approach the notion of business viability. Most IC research leans on the classical tripod of IC components, laid down by the first-generation researchers in the field (e.g. Edvinsson and Malone, 1997; Sveiby, 1997; Roos et al, 1997; Bontis, 2002). This tripod divides the value-generating knowledge assets into human capital, structural capital and relational capital; or, more simply put the value vested in an organization’s personnel, internal structures and processes, and relationships.

However, in the post(?)-pandemic era, the ‘New Normal’ business environment has arisen from technological, socio-political, and institutional changes (Hitt et al., 2021; Ahlstrom et al., 2020). The large-scale changes companies’ operating environments and work-life in general call for a critical examination of the relevance of the classical conceptualizations of IC. It may be necessary to update the understanding concerning not only the most essential knowledge resources, but also the structure of IC and the way in which IC is related with new relevant organizational capabilities and performance aspects such as resilience, agility, adaptive efficiency, structural flexibility, and environmental and social sustainability, among others. Thus, it may be relevant to rethink the nature and content of IC along with novel theorizing of IC paradigms.

Suggested topics include but are not limited to:

• Business and technology trends that shape the new normal business environment and require novel theorizing of the IC concept
• Opportunities and challenges emerging in the new normal business environment, and their implications for IC theory
• Redefining knowledge-based resources that contribute to organizational value-added process and re-conceptualizing IC frameworks
• Important new issues to examine in terms of various IC elements, organizational abilities and performance dimensions, and moderators/mediators of the relationships between them
• Updating the IC theory to help us understand how organizations can navigate the new normal business environment.