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Syllabus

EN IT

Prerequisites

In the didactic regulations of the Bachelor's degree program in Business Administration & Economics, there are no preparatory courses for the Knowledge Management Foundations course. Nonetheless, to better understand the contents of the lessons and achieve the educational objectives of the course, it is useful for the student to have already acquired basic knowledge at least from business area courses and in particular from the disciplines of Business economics and General Management.

Program

The course program is articulated into the following 6 main parts:

Part I - Knolwedge (6 hours)
What is knowledge?; Knowledge hierarchy; Why is Knowledge important?; Typologies of Knowledge; Relationship between tacit and explicit knowledge; Other types of knowledge; Knowledge, Skill, (Cap)Ability; Knowledge models: Nonaka & Senge; Knowledge strategy; Knowledge strategy process; Resource appraisal; Exploration vs. Exploitation; Filling the knowledge gap: make or buy?; Knowledge loss; Employee turnover; Managing knowledge loss; Knowledge manager

Part II - Knowledge management (6 hours)
What is Knowledge Management?; KM views; KM purposes; Pillars of KM: Management and organisation, Infrastructure, People and Culture, Content management system; KM implementation: Advocate and learn, Develop strategy, Design and launch KM initiatives, Expand and support initiatives, Institutionalize knowledge management

Part III - Intellectual capital (6 hours)
Components of intellectual capital; Measuring and Safeguarding Intellectual Capital; Finding Measures for Intangible Assets: Balance scorecard, Intangible asset monitor, Skandia navigator, Knowledge account; Intellectual Capital Reporting

Part IV - Learning (6 hours)
What is learning?; Conscious learning; Absorptive capacity; Action learning vs Learning from action; Kolb’s model; What is organisational learning?; Learning types

Part V - Knowledge sharing (6 hours)
What is Knowledge sharing?; Knowledge sharing vs. knowledge transfer; Models of knowledge sharing; Implementing knowledge sharing; Knowledge sharing barriers; Knowledge characteristics; Sharing knowledge creatively

Part VI - Knowledge management tools and techniques (6 hours)
Peer assist; After action review; Knowledge café; Communities of practices; Social network services; Knowledge cluster; Knowledge mapping; KM maturity model

Books

- Massingham P. (2020): Knowledge Management: Theory in Practice, SAGE
- Teaching material (e.g., slides and/or articles provided by the professor and available online for all the students)

Bibliography

Choo, C. W. (1996). The knowing organization: How organizations use information to construct meaning, create knowledge and make decisions. International journal of information management, 16(5), 329-340.
Hristov I., Cristofaro M., Camilli R., Leoni L. (2024), A System Dynamics Approach to the Balanced Scorecard: A Review and Dynamic Strategy Map for Operations Management, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management;
Leoni L., Ardolino M., El Baz J., Gueli G., Bacchetti A. (2022), The Mediating Role of Knowledge Management Processes in the Effective Use of Artificial Intelligence in Manufacturing Firms, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, Vol. 42 No. 13, pp. 411-437. Doi: 10.1108/IJOPM-05-2022-0282
Leoni L., Gueli G., Ardolino M., Panizzon M., Gupta S. (2024), AI-empowered KM processes for decision-making: empirical evidence from worldwide organisations, Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 28 No. 11, pp. 320-347. DOI: 10.1108/JKM-03-2024-0262
Leoni, L. (2015), “Adding service means adding knowledge: an inductive single-case study”, Business Process Management Journal, 21(3), 610-627. ISSN: 1463-7154;
Lima, P. A. B., Furlan, M., Leoni, L., Domingues, A. M., Jorge, C. F. B., & Jugend, D. (2024). Relationships between knowledge management and ecodesign: a theoretical analysis. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 205–217. DOI: 10.1080/14778238.2024.2325013
Massingham P. (2020): Knowledge Management: Theory in Practice, SAGE;
Nonaka, I. (1991). The knowledge-creating company. Harvard business review, 85(7/8), 162-171;
Nonaka, I. (1994). A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization science, 5(1), 14-37.
Paniccia, P. M. A., Abatecola, G., & Baiocco, S. (2024). Integrating time and knowledge to understand organizational evolution: towards a conceptual framework. Journal of Knowledge Management, 28(11), 62-77.

Teaching methods

The teaching activity, in line with the training objectives of the course, responds to a theoretical-practical approach that combines lectures, thematic seminars with testimonials, discussion of business cases, and project work for a total of 36 hours of training, according to the calendar published before the start of the semester on the Bachelor’s Degree Course website. The lectures include the treatment of the theoretical and methodological foundations reported in the course program and their application using business cases and examples to allow students to develop understanding and application skills of concepts and methodologies suitable for solving Knowledge management issues. Furthermore, for some course topics (or related to it, also concerning significant socio-economic and environmental evolutions in national and international contexts), thematic seminars are planned, introduced by the professor and carried out by managers, entrepreneurs, and experts in knowledge management. These testimonials form an integral part of the training objectives of the course as they further and effectively develop the student's ability to understand and apply them through a direct approach to the complexity of the processes of knowledge management, creation, and enhancement in a firm. During the lectures, the discussion of the cases, and the thematic seminars, students are encouraged by the teacher to ask questions, express doubts, and present their critical points of view, highlighting the concepts and tools used for their arguments, starting from those learned during the course.

Exam Rules

For attending and non-attending students, the oral exam focuses on the topics of the course program, including topics emerging from in-depth seminars and the analysis of business cases. Both attending and non-attending students are required to prepare and discuss a project work, according to the guidelines provided by the professor and available in the course material.
The exam assesses the overall preparation by the student following the Dublin descriptors, as follows: acquired knowledge (quantity and quality) concerning the topics of the program and consequentiality of reasoning; ability to apply such knowledge and to make connections among the different parts of the program, including also the acquired knowledge from other similar courses; analytical ability, synthesis, and autonomy of judgement; communication skills of the student (language properties, clarity of presentation, and appropriate use of terminology, specific to the course).
The final mark of the exam is expressed out of thirty and will be obtained through the following grading system:
o Not suitable: significant deficiencies and/or inaccuracies in knowledge and understanding of the topics; limited analysis and synthesis skills, frequent generalizations.
o 18-20: just sufficient knowledge and understanding of the topics with possible imperfections; Sufficient analytical, synthesis, and independent judgment skills.
o 21-23: Knowledge and understanding of routine topics; Correct analysis and synthesis skills with coherent logical argumentation.
o 24-26: Fair knowledge and understanding of the topics; good analytical and synthesis skills with rigorously expressed arguments.
o 27-29: Complete knowledge and understanding of the topics; remarkable analytical and synthesis skills. Good independent judgment.
o 30-30L: Excellent level of knowledge and understanding of the topics. Remarkable analytical and synthesis skills and independent judgment. Arguments expressed in an original way.