88 Zyngier, Burstein, and McKay
Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
Work Structure
The research conducted by the STDO is structured on a task or project basis. Thus
each research undertaking is within the task structure. This task structure is how funding
is achieved and is also how resources are allocated for staffing, travel, conference
attendance, and other research-related activity. This applies to 75% of the STDO that is
involved in research. The remaining 25% of STDO is essentially administration and
support staff whose work conforms to the norms of the Commonwealth public service.
A customer, usually a specific part of the “Operations” staff, commissions STDO
tasks. Tasks are assigned a customer sponsor and a customer desk officer. STDO
positions follow Australian “Operations” Force ranks. The customer sponsor is gener-
ally someone of high rank, for example, at the senior level. The customer sponsor is
ultimately responsible for the task and is the person who gives permission for the task
to move forward. The desk officer, who is someone generally at a lower level, is the person
to whom the STDO people working on the task report to on a day-to-day basis.
SETTING THE STAGE
The STDO is a single dispersed national enterprise, which was purposively selected
as a knowledge-intensive organization according to its large size and its reputation for
pursuing KM strategies. The aim of this research was to investigate governance
mechanisms invoked to guide the implementation and ongoing management of KM
strategies. The research methodology comprised the interpretation of qualitative data
collected in seven one-hour in-depth, one-on-one interviews with respondents within
the STDO.
Because the interviewees were selected on advice from the STDO staff, there could
have been some sample bias; however, the sample conformed to parameters that were
established by the authors and these were implemented in conjunction with staff at the
STDO. It was a purposive sample of both members of the Information Management and
Knowledge Management Governance Board and of those responsible for the implemen-
tation of the KM strategy. The interviews were semistructured and in-depth, each lasting
approximately one hour. The interview questions canvassed the following themes:
- The organizational philosophy of KM
- The history and implementation of the KM strategy
- The process and allocation of responsibility for KM
- The organizational structures that support and govern the initiative
Of the seven people interviewed for this case study, six were members of the
Information and Knowledge Management Governance Board; the seventh informant
worked on research for the tacit knowledge element of the KM task. All informants were
permanent, tenured members of staff employed in the STDO and had postgraduate
qualifications. The STDO does not employ contract staff, although it does engage
consultants to provide advice in areas outside of the scientific research realm.