A Suggested E-business Process Model to Apply Knowledge Management to Solve Training Problems of New Employees

• Main Author: Zaharee, Marcie E.
• Published: NSUWorks 2005
• Subjects: Computer Sciences
• Online Access: http://nsuworks.nova.edu/gscis_etd/945

This study addressed the need human resource managers have in establishing a culture to identify and encourage information exchanges, thereby reducing the training and orientation time for new employees. The goal of this project was to develop and validate an e-business process model enabling human resource management professionals to understand and effectively apply knowledge management to reduce the time necessary to train and orient new employees. A matrix was created to list criteria to be incorporated into the e-business process model. The matrix contained newcomer training problems and knowledge management solutions documented from the review of literature. Through a series of surveys, human resource manager expert panel and knowledge management committee members validated the criteria listed in the matrix. The validated criteria were used to develop the e-business process model. A combination of a software development model and Instructional System Design processes were used as guidelines to develop a prototype. A combination of two formative and one summative evaluation measures was utilized to evaluate the prototype. The formative evaluation procedures included a) a group of business managers conducting a heuristic evaluation of the model against the criteria identified in the matrix, and b) the researcher conducting a self-audit to review the e-business model process contents against established quality policy and procedure standards. The summative evaluation was comprised of the human resource manager expert panel and knowledge management committee members responding to a technology acceptance model questionnaire to predict perceived value and voluntary use of the e-business process model to implement a knowledge management solution to training needs. The evaluations conducted on the e-business process model indicated that the target audience perceived the model as a valuable tool. In particular, the outcome of the technology acceptance model questionnaire clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of the prototype in the areas of usability, ease of use and availability of resources. The study has demonstrated that an e-business process model can be developed and successfully applied as a tool to enable human resource professionals to understand and apply knowledge management to resolve new employee training needs.