Track Co-Chairs

1) Robert M Davison, Dept of Information Systems, City University of Hong Kong, China. isrobert@cityu.edu.hk.

2) George Kuk, School of Business, University of Nottingham, UK. George.Kuk@nottingham.ac.uk

3) Sue Newell, Bentley University, USA and Warwick Business School, UK. snewell@bentley.edu

Track Description

This track is designed to encourage discussion around how Knowledge Management (KM) can facilitate the development and sharing of ideas around sustainability, i.e. what are the sustainable practices that can help to conserve resources in different contexts. We conceive of KM in a broad sense, and so are open to initiatives that involve both centralised and decentralised processes and formal codification as well as informal personalisation strategies. Knowledge Sharing practices are therefore equally welcome, even where they do not form part of a formal organisational KM initiative.

It is often assumed that the very essence of KM assumes re-use of knowledge rather than re-creation. While this is valid in contexts where knowledge is relatively stable, in dynamic contexts where knowledge is continually evolving it is less true. Nevertheless, the focus of this track is on how knowledge, and the way it is managed (whether at the individual, team or organisational level) contributes to sustainable practices rather than wastage.

A wide range of papers can be expected, with the proviso that they explicitly describe how knowledge, managed in different ways, contributes towards sustainable organisational practices. Whilst we are methodologically and epistemologically open, we prefer that empirical research is based on data subjects who are experiencing the research context directly (e.g. employees), rather than vicariously (e.g. students). Some examples of topics include:

• Measurements of initiatives or practices that result in the reduction of waste (e.g., reducing travel costs by using virtual meetings)
• The strategic positioning of KM initiatives in organisations in the context of sustainability and corporate social responsibility.
• The personal or team-based development or adoption of KM practices that enhance sustainable working practices and responsible use of resources
• Cultural (or cross-cultural) assessements at the professional, organisational or societal levels, of sustainable work practices that are supported by KM
• Case-based analyses of specific organisations, professions or teams with respect to their KM-based sustainable work
• Surveys of attitudes towards sustainability by employees with respect to either espoused / intended work practices or actual / continuous work behaviour
• Intensive (e.g. ethnographic, action research, hermeneutic) studies of how employees engage in sustainable work practices with respect to KM.