Knowledge management: A re-assessment and case

The authors are building a knowledge management system (KMS) for use by several U.S. federal agencies. Its use must harmonize with multiple agency and disciplinary cultures, and also link with the efforts of at least one international agency. In this paper, we present the KMS project’s technological contributions and implementation considerations as a case in knowledge management (KM). We link the public-sector case with our assessment of KM’s current status and future prospects. We find the challenges for KM’s future are in theory, interactivity, integration, the recognition of cultural differences, and the design of marketing programs that respect these differences. His research focuses on technology management and technology entrepreneurship. Dr. Delcambre’s research focuses on object-oriented and other database data models. developed the Metadata++ software discussed in this paper. With Lois Delcambre, he has been exploring models for terms or keywords that are used in a digital library.     

Analysis of the role of information in planning: The case of town and country planning

The role of information in planning is analyzed, taking a phenomenological view: people act on the basis of the meanings they attach to reality. The analysis framework is borrowed from the knowledge systems approach and domain theory. Within the knowledge system a distinction is made between two domains: the formal domain and the field domain. The central view in this article is that the interpretation frameworks of the actors in both domains are different, hampering effective communication between the two domains. The functioning of the knowledge system during the planning process can be improved by dealing explicitly with differences between interpretation fameworks. Dr. Mathieu C.H. Wagemans is employed by the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management and fisheries. In 1988 and 1989 he served as a consultant in an FAO-project in China, aimed at strengthening regional agricultural extension centers. He is primarily interested in the application of planning models in public bureaucracies.     

Knowledge mapping: The consolidation of the technology management discipline

The paper presents a method of conceptual mapping of knowledge during the consolidation process of an interdisciplinary domain into an emerging discipline. This approach allows tracking the evolution of an emerging discipline of technology management. Knowledge consolidation is the result of colliding source disciplines and the simultaneous influence of changing paradigms. Three paradigms have played major role in recent development of the emerging discipline: (1) engineering management paradigm, (2) management of technology paradigm, and (3) technological entrepreneurship paradigm. The changing needs of practice drive the process. Knowledge mapping approach identifies elements of that process. Those elements (concepts) are identified and used for building a map of knowledge. The impact of different source disciplines (such as economics, management science, psychology, engineering sciences, systems science, and sociology) is characterized by affinities they have with concepts developed and applied in the emerging discipline. Linkages among those concepts are graphically interpreted in the map of knowledge. where he is also the Director of the Center for Technological Innovation Leadership and Entrepreneurship (CenTILE).     

Contingency management in the classroom treatment of long-term elective mutism: A case report

An 11-year-old boy with a six-year history of elective mutism in school was successfully treated with operant reinforcement and contingency management techniques. The plan was carried out by the classroom teacher with a minimum amount of management consultation. Twelve-month follow-up reveals continued maintenance of the verbal interaction indistinguishable from that of other children at school which was set as the criterion for terminating the intervention. The plan was carried out in three stages-relationship-building to develop teacher-pupil interaction into a reinforcing event, audible-response eliciting, and generalization throughout the school building and grounds.     

"易卦"的序结构数学模型在对策理论中的应用

通过分析人类的基本行为元素,并借助于"卦象"序结构数学模型的建立,从而初步讨论了一般谋略方法的产生和起源,以及谋略对策的系统核心元素结构;最后讨论了它们在应用中的初步分类.     

Knowledge utilization in hazard mitigation planning

A survey of local government planners and engineers in New Zealand, and an assessment of dealings with planning committees consisting of elected councilors, showed a range of attitudes to hazard mitigation planning. The survey suggests that the main requirement for knowledge utilization is personal contact, with involvement and discussion at all stages and levels of planning schemes and developments. However, communication strategies would have to go beyond enlightenment of those lacking information. They should encompass both enlisting those who are reluctant to accept hazard information and engaging with those who, for sociopolitical reasons, refuse to utilize it. J. Geoffrey Gregory is program leader for the information program of New Zealand geological survey. He has an extensive background in scientific editing and information work.     

The case of Pedro: a holistic life planning approach

Traditional theories of career development are inadequate due to the complexity of today's work world. As changes occur in society and the world‐of‐work employment counselors need new ways of dealing with their clients. This article introduces employment counselors to the “leisure theory of career development” (J. J. Liptak, 2000) as an alternative to traditional trait‐and‐factor counseling approaches.     

The virtual case report

Reports of clinical happenings are coming under increasing suspicion because of their piecemeal nature and their problematic reliance on memory. Recent research on eyewitness testimony has raised the further concern that memory of an event can be easily and unwittingly influenced by something heard or seen after the fact. Once the psychoanalyst's memory has come under the influence of whatever theory is dominant, we can expect both an overselection of clinical happenings consistent with that theory, and an unwitting alteration of those that do not agree. Seemingly true case reports may be more virtual than veridical.     

The third in the shadow of the fourth

The notion of the third in recent years is seen by noted psychoanalysts as the locus of healing. Jung explored the third beginning in 1916 in a way strikingly postmodern in its implications for clinical work and for understanding reality. This article(1) proposes that we cannot see the third except in the shadow of the fourth, and attempts to describe what the fourth is. The fourth remains shadowy (suggesting two meanings of shadow); it is only known by living it, for we are part of the larger reality it discloses. In experiencing this fourth, we are led to develop whatever we each leave out. Hence the aliveness of the fourth engenders a new kind of consciousness of the bigger surround, the moreness of reality as a whole that includes and transcends the psyche.     

Knowledge management in agriculture: Building upon diversity

Knowledge increasingly has become a vital resource. Within our communities, institutions, and organizations, practical insights are needed for optimizing its use. Knowledge management needs to become an object of study. This article deals with two issues. First, using both knowledge systems concepts and tools, and insights gained from comparative research, it explores the vital qualities of agricultural knowledge systems. These qualities, like the multiplicity and relative autonomy of the actors, the level of integration reached through linkage mechanisms, and the coordination needed to overcome default situations, might provide leverage points for effective knowledge management. Second, it probes into a more specific definition of the tasks and areas of attention of the knowledge manager. Knowledge management can focus on various levels of a system (e.g., the individual, organizational, or system level) and can make use of a variety of instruments and skills. Paul G. H. Engel is also a member of the Department of Extension Science, Wageningen Agricultural University, P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW Wageningen, The Netherlands. His interests include rural development and the transformation of agricultural knowledge.     

The communication disorder in dialysis dementia: A case report

The communication disorder in dialysis dementia is an integral feature of the syndrome. This report describes the communication disorder in a 67-year-old man over a period of 4 months from his admission to the hospital to his death. In the early stage of the syndrome, the most prominent feature was a speech problem, the characteristics of which may vary among cases. In the middle stage, it was difficult to distinguish among aphemia, aphasia, or a combination of dysarthria and confusional state. The severity of the problems in these stages was temporally related to the dialysis treatments. The final stage was characterized by constant mutism and was unrelated to the dialysis treatments. Death occurred 10 months after the communication problems emerged. Communication studies of dialysis dementia patients may offer a systematic method to monitor the course of the syndrome, its response to therapeutic trials, and a clinical model for the study of communication disorders in general.     

Using psychodynamic concepts in strategic family therapy: A suicidal adolescent case

This paper describes the treatment of a suicidal adolescent with strategic family therapy. The cotherapists conceptualized the case psychoanalytically and systemically. They propose that their understanding of psychodynamics enhanced their ability to tailor their interventions to the family's unique style and capacities. Rather than dismiss psychodynamic concepts as irrelevant to strategic family therapy, they maintain that an appreciation of individual members' ego strengths, defenses, affects, and unacknowledged impulses leads to the construction of more effective metaphors and a set of interventions more isomorphic to family patterns.     

Validity of the strategic management simulations to predict real-world productivity

The performance of individual businesses and the economy as a whole hinges on the productivity of human capital, yet measuring productivity at an individual level has proved difficult. The Strategic Management Simulation (SMS) methodology comprises several decision-making assessment tools that have been used for several decades to estimate real-world productivity. Performance on productivity measures using a shorter version of the SMS methodology was gathered from a sample of 111 knowledge workers from major corporations in the U.S. and compared with their income level. In linear models, every percentile increase in SMS performance was associated with a $791–$1,113 increase in income in each of the four domains of decision-making performance provided by the SMS tool. The models had R²’s ranging from 0.65 to 0.75, indicating high levels of correlation between SMS performance and income levels. This study is the first to show linear relationships between SMS performance and other indicators of productivity, indicating that the SMS is a valid predictor of productivity and that SMS scores can be used to predict job satisfaction and performance.