QWE2000 Session 12M

Ms. Tuija Lamsa [Finland]
(University of Oulu)

"Using Knowledge Management in the Quality Improvement of the Development Processes"

Full Technical Paper in QWE2000 CD-ROM

Key Points

Presentation Abstract

Today's business environments are more and more complex of their nature. Organizations are undergoing continuous changes and needs in their markets, information technology, interest groups and competitors, and in the management of processes and intangible assets. These essential things force the companies in different industries to change their ways of actions and processes, and to focus increasingly on both quality and performance improvement and the utilization of multidimensional intelligence and intellectual capital both at individual and organizational levels.

Especially knowledge management (KM) has gained plenty of attention among practitioners and academies, and this topic has been approached from different points of view in different studies. KM can be considered as an interdisciplinary research, the domain of how we renew, success, improves competitiveness and harness the human talent and know-how for the use of organizations. Whether the notion of KM is defined in terms of learning, intellectual capital, knowledge assets, intelligence, or otherwise, managing all kind of knowledge is one of the most significant challenges in management. Managing knowledge, and using it for improving organization's development processes, can be seen as one of the most valuable way to increase organization's success.

This paper focuses on using knowledge management in the quality improvement of the processes in the organizations, which presents a specific research challenge, for the reason that these business environments face the most intensive and highest rate of change. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how knowledge management can be utilized in the context of innovative and turbulent conditions, in the R&D development processes. The paper aims to increase understanding of the implementation of knowledge management and its importance in development processes. The paper also pursues to develop a system of concepts for describing and analysing the management of knowledge in the above-mentioned context, in the software business.

About the Speaker

The author's field of research is in Knowledge Management, Individual and Organizational Know-how/Intelligence and Quality focused on software and R&D business environments. Tuija Lamsa is a M.Sc., economist, who has completed her Masters Degree in Economics and Business Administration, as her subjects being Marketing, Business Law, Accounting and Industrial Management. Her current post is in University of Oulu, at Faculty of Economics and Industrial Management, Department of Management and Entrepreneurship where she works as a Researcher and Assistant of Quality Management. She has lectured in Organizations and Management, and Quality, and currently she is working in co-operation in projects dealing with Knowledge management and Process improvement.