“The old order Changeth!” Building sustainable knowledge management post COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: The global pandemic and the resulting rapid and large-scale digitization changed the way firms recognized and understood knowledge curation and management. The changing nature of work and work systems necessitated changes in knowledge management (KM), some of which are likely to have a long-term impact. Using the lens of technology in practice, the purpose of this study is to examine the impact of technology agency on KM structures and practices that evolved across five knowledge-intensive global organizations. This study then argues that sustainable knowledge management (SKM) systems evolve in specific contexts. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a qualitative case study design to examine five multinational knowledge-intensive global organizations’ KM systems and practices across diverse industry sectors. Findings: Based on the findings, the authors develop SKM systems and practices model relevant to a post-pandemic organizational context. The authors argue that KM digitization and adoption support socialization in knowledge sharing. Further formalization through organizational enabling systems aids the externalization of knowledge sharing. Deliberate practices promoted with leadership support are likely to sustain in the post-COVID era. Further, organizations that evolved ad-hoc or idiosyncratic approaches to managing hybrid working are more likely to revert to legacy KM systems. The authors eventually theorize about the socialization of human-to-human and technology-mediated human interactions and develop the three emerging SKM structures. Originality/value: This study contributed to practitioners and researchers by developing the various tenets of SKM. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Unveiling the Direct Effects of Family Firm Heterogeneity on Environmental Performance

By combining agency theory and the resource- and capabilities-based view, this paper aims to unveil the influence of family firm heterogeneity on environmental performance. Previous results are inconsistent about how the specific features of this type of business contribute to better environmental protection performance. We analyse a number of variables related to the management, ownership and corporate governance characteristics of the family business and their individual influence on environmental performance. We test our hypotheses using a database of 748 family firms in the Spanish tourism sector. This economic sector, which is mostly composed of family businesses, puts great pressure on the environment. As such, family firms must take an active role in the resolution of the environmental problems that afflict society. We find that the effects of a family-controlled ownership and management structure on environmental performance are negative. Family-founder firms with a high degree of family control also are shown to have a negative relationship with environmental performance. However, the existence of a formal management mechanism, such as a management committee, emerges as the most powerful structural factor in facilitating the achievement of environmental objectives. The conclusions drawn from this study allow us to outline future lines of research as well as recommendations for practitioners. Our study responds to the call made in the literature to delve deeper into the heterogeneity of the family business, and specifically to determine which of its characteristic features allow this type of business to achieve better environmental performance.

Virtual emergency operation centre: How to manage a crisis from an EOC when you need to work from home

What happens when an organization requires its employees to work from home during a pandemic that needs to be managed? This research in progress article focuses on TELCO-ALPHA and the transition of their emergency operation centre (EOC) to digital and distributed. A qualitative research method approach was applied and liminality has been used as lens to investigate the shift from analog to digital. Focus has been on understanding the transition and how they handled ambiguity within the organization when their crisis management moved online. The transition was successful, and two areas were identified as important to this success: 1. TELCO-ALPHA used IT that the staff in the crisis organization already had experience of working with prior to the Covid-19 pandemic;2. TELCO-ALPHA ran crisis management team meetings as they would run regular business meetings. There was no new "crisis management structure" at the meetings. © 2021 Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management, ISCRAM. All rights reserved.