Date of Award

3-6-2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Alan R. Heminger, PhD

Second Advisor

David P. Biros, PhD

Third Advisor

Todd A. Peachey, PhD

Abstract

Organizations today are using information technology to capture knowledge from experts and disseminate this knowledge to decision makers. Having the right information to the right person at the right time facilitates more effective and efficient decisions. This study uses Goodhue’s (1998) Task-Technology Fit (TTF) theoretical model to evaluate an Expertise Transfer Forum (ETF) developed by the Oklahoma State University for the Defense Ammunition Center’s quality assurance personnel. The preliminary findings suggest a good fit between the ETF and problem-solving tasks assigned to students in the DAC classroom environment. The participants also offered the following observations: • The ETF was more suited to the field environment because of the knowledge content • They would only use the ETF if they had a question they could not get the answer to • The ETF transcripts, videos, and nugget views were easy to use • There should be more training on the use of the ETF • Searching using the views was not as easy as a simple keyword search • Expert vetting would enhance the currency and trust in the knowledge • Interviewing instructors instead of and/or in addition to the field experts • Technical issues in this study included video buffering lag and some views that did not open Because of the small N and the specific nature of the ETF content, there was not enough statistical power to generalize our findings. Overall, the findings from this study suggest when populated with current and applicable knowledge, the ETF is a viable tool.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GIR-ENV-09-M02

DTIC Accession Number

ADA499622

Comments

Co-advised thesis.

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