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MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES
IN SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICES (SAPS)
By
BACCALAREUS –TECHNOLOGIEAE
In the
At the
Study leader:
Date of submission
26 October 2006
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary…………………………………………………………………....iv
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………….v
List of figures……………………………………………………………………………vi
Abbreviations…………………………………………………………………………...vii
1.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1
1.2 Problem Statement………………………………………………………………….2
1.3 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………….3
1.4 Importance/ Benefits of the study…………………………………………………...5
1.5 Research Methodology………………………………………………………………6
1.6 Data Gathering……………………………………………………………………….7
1.7 Chapter Outline……………………………………………………………………….8
2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………….10
2.2 Document Management……………………………………………………………10
2.3 Information Management…………………………………………………………..12
2.4 Knowledge Management…………………………………………………………...13
2.4.1 Internet………………………………………………………………………….
….18
2.4.1.1 Reasons for using internet……………………………………………………...19
2.4.1.2 Intranet…………………………………………………………………………..20
2.4.1.3 Kinds of intranet…………………………………………………………………20
2.4.2 Virtual Community………………………………………………………………...22
2.4.2.1 Characteristics of Virtual Communities………………………………………...22
2.4.2.2 Benefits of Virtual Communities……………………………………………….25
2.4.3 Communities of Practices………………………………………………………..27
2.4.3.1 Ten Factors in Building a
Community………………………………………….30
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3.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………43
3.2 Research methodology..…………………………………………………………...43
3.3 Case Study as research method………………………………………………….45
3.4 Advantages of Case Study………………………………………………………...45
3.5 Disadvantages of Case Study……………………………………………………..46
3.6 Data Collection Methods…………………………………………………………...47
3.6.1 Literature…………………………………………………………………………..47
3.6.2 Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………..47
3.6.3 Interview…………………………………………………………………………...48
3.7 Participants……………………………………………………………………….….48
3.7.1 The Researcher…………………………………………………………………...48
3.7.2 The Organization…………………………………………………………………49
3.7.2.1 South African Police Services (SAPS)…………………………………………
49
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3.8
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...49
4.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………..51
4.2 Analyses and interpretation of data……………………………………………....51
4.3 Research Questions………………………………………………………………51
4.3.1 The usage of information technology and Knowledge management………...52
4.4 Problems identified within SAPS…………………………………………………56
4.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………57
5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………58
5.2 Responding to research questions………………………………………………..58
5..2.1 What technologies do they currently use?.…………………………………….58
5.2.2 How can the use of knowledge technologies help in case investigations?.….59
5.3 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………61
5.4 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….62
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………….63
Appendixes
Appendix A: Questionnaire
Appendix B: Article
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research paper is examines the current SAPS systems and ultimately
define information and knowledge technologies such as intranet/internet,
virtual communities, communities of practice, peer-to-peer and client-server
computing that can be of help in sharing and transferring knowledge within
this organization .
The research used qualitative case study and has used individual based
interviews, questionnaires, literature and observation in collecting data. The
current system was analyzed and questioned. Intranets are enablers of
knowledge sharing.
It was found that there is a need within SAPS to implement these information and
knowledge technologies in helping them with their investigation. Finally it was
concluded the SAPS as an organization should convert into ‘learning organization’.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I can do everything through him (Christ) who strengthens me. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank the most highly Father (God), for fulfilling his
promises, he never slept nor slumbered thanking him for enabling me to
complete this paper.
Thanking Him for the support system of the loving and courageous people he
supplied particularly the following:
My study leader Mev, Ml Van Der Linde for her motivation, encourangement,
guidance, positive critisism, her opennes and believe that i will complete this
assignment .
All the participants in this study especially members of Daveyton & Germiston Police
Stations for sharing their honesty views and experinces.
To all my families, friends and love for reminding me of my potential. Without your
input this work was not going to be possible.
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LIST OF FIGURES
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ABBREVIATIONS
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CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION
The use of knowledge, networking and internet technologies has become the vital
part of our daily lives, whether as individuals, companies or governments. South Africa
is the richest country in the continent Africa economically, according to Mitchell
(1998:15), therefore much is expected from it, in terms how it combat its crime. The
South African Police Services (SAPS) under the supervision of Safety and Security is
responsible for preventing, combating and investigating; maintaining public order;
protecting and securing the inhabitants of South Africa and their property and uphold
law enforcement in all nine provinces.
Investigation is the police activity concerned with (1) the apprehension of criminals by
gathering the evidence leading to their arrest and (2) the collection and presentation of
evidence and testimony for the purpose of obtaining conviction. These investigations
are normally divided into two major areas of activity (1) the preliminary investigation
carried out by officers in uniform called detectives. (2) The follow-up investigation
carried out by trained investigators.
In South Africa a Senior Investigation Officer (SIO) plays a pivotal role with all serious
crime investigations. There is concern, however that there is a shortage of
investigators with appropriate qualities to perform this role effectively, as most of them
have retired or resigned without transferring knowledge to the new force according to
Van Wyk (2006:02). The consequences of such deficit could be severe, it will affect
the effective workings of the judicial process, and it can also waste resources,
undermine integrity and reduce public confidence in the police services.
According to Van Wyk (2006:2), Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula want
to lure back retired police officer to help fight crime, from this we can assume that
there was never enough time for knowledge transfer process between the retired and
our current police force.
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‘’We can be sure that South Africa’s murder rate are far higher than those of the
industrial world” Altbeker (2005:2), hence there is a need for SAPS investigators to
make use of knowledge technologies. The administration of cases is done manually
(paperwork); hence lots dockets get lost, leading to delay in investigations in some
cases, cases are thrown out of court because of lack of sufficient evidence.
The purpose of this research is to find out whether SAPS investigators are
using knowledge technologies such as internet, centralized database, e-
learning, virtual communities, community of practice and how.
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According to the research done by Barnard et al (2004), the current networks for
SAPS (investigators) are not functioning accordingly referring to LANs/WANs. This
leads to hindrance of knowledge or information sharing or knowledge transfer
amongst the investigators who are dealing with similar cases. Virtual Communities do
not exist. As defined by Kardaras (2003) he described virtual community as a
group of people who communicate with each other via electronic media such
as internet, they share common interest, and their geographical location,
physical location, physical interaction or ethnic origin does not impose any
constraints for the formation of community.
Barnard et al (2004) stated that with the current system document management is
done manually; hence there is a need for management of document to be done
electronically. Due to manual management of case dockets, this leads to
disappearance of valuable information within the dockets e.g. According to One in
Nine (2006:1-4) website (www.oneinnine.org.za), on the 2nd October 2006, a year will
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have passed since Busisiwe was raped. She has yet to give evidence in court. On
the 12th of June 2006 the matter was struck out of Tembisa Magistrate court’s roll due
to certain key evidence being missing from the docket. This was never going to
happen if centralized systems and electronic document management where in use.
To reduce the physical and temporal distance between police investigators of these
dispersed provinces, there is a need for virtual organizations as defined by Coll, et al
(2004) “is technologically centered, involves electronic telecommunication links to
exchange information or knowledge and removes many of the limitations inherent in
hierarchical organizations”, it hold new possibilities for virtual society, enables
individuals, groups, communities, organizations and societies, among other, to
exchange information, conduct business, participate in newsgroup discussions and
publish information electronically.
To unravel the mystery of our past, we need to look to the future. Hofstede (2001)
argue that the development of personal relationships between employees is
an important factor in enhancing effective working relationships in employee-
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However, according to Pauleen and Yoong (2001:191), little has been written
on how on-line relationships among employees influence business values
and, subsequently, communication among employees. Komito (2001:116)
indicates that a person’s relationship with another person influences his or her
communication content and, consequently, it may be deduced that it would
also influence communication’s knowledge sharing function.
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1. 5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
For the purpose of this research, the qualitative research has been chosen, because it
allows the researcher to research on the subject more deeply using data collection
methods like interviews, questionnaires that’s according to Babbie and Mouton
(2001:270).
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Case Study research design is the method to be used for this research paper. Case
Study is the chosen methodology, because it is suitable for holistic and in depth
investigation. According to Leedy and Ormord (2001:135) with this method the
researcher can collect extensive data on the individual (s), program(s), or event(s) on
which investigation is focused. These data often include observation, interviews,
documents (e.g. newspaper articles), past records, audiovisual materials. Reason
behind choosing this research design is this method is not aimed at describing only,
but also to improve the state of the situation.
Case Study can either be single or multiple / collective design. Single cases are to
promote understanding or inform practice or represent unique or exceptional case.
While multiple/collective often for cases that are different in key ways to make
comparisons, build theory, or propose generalizations.
The data gathering research phase is where the researcher compile information
needed to answer research questions that have been identified in the problem
statement section. In the problem statement section, researcher reviewed questions
noting what data will be collected to answer those questions.
There are many ways to collect data, such as surveys, documents analysis,
observation, interviews, questionnaires etc. it is up to the researcher to choose the
best approach or combination thereof to answer the research questions.
The choice of data collection method will depend on research type and methodology
chosen. For the purpose of this research paper interview, questionnaires and
research literature review
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2.1 INTRODUCTION
Aims at exploring the use of internet and knowledge technologies such as
Communities of Practice,Virtual Communities, Information and Document
Management available to make knowledge transfer and sharing amongst the
investigator much easier and networks (Client/Server and Peer-to-Peer). The
benefits of using these technologies and how they interrelate.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Exploration of Methodologies used to gather information from relevant
sources interviews, observation feedback and questionnaires samples would
be part of the methodology used.
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CHAPTER 5
5.1 RECOMENDATIONS
In conclusion we will give summary overview and recommend the suitable
technologies and have overview of future research.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 INTRODUCTION
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Barnard et al (2004) stated that with the SAPS current system, document
management is done manually; hence there is a need for management of document
to be done electronically. Due to manual management of case dockets, this leads to
disappearance of dockets e.g. According to One in Nine website (2006:1-4)
(www.oneinnine.org.za), on the 2nd October 2006, a year will have passed since
Busisiwe was raped.
She has yet to give evidence in court. On the 12 th of June 2006 the matter was struck
out of Tembisa Magistrate court’s roll due to certain key evidence being missing from
the docket. This was never going to happen if centralized electronic document
management systems where in use. See the picture below :
www.oneinnine.org.za
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Secondly, they left out refining and representing processes, because they
believe that refining is not a major enough process in the knowledge flow, but
merely one aspect of the knowledge creation step and knowledge
representation generally falls within the scope of the storage and organization
process. Thirdly they added a separate process of knowledge sharing, they
replaced knowledge dissemination from Oluic-Vukovic (2001). They believe
knowledge sharing seem to be terminology commonly used in the knowledge
management field.
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Figure 1 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes (Bouthillier and Shearer: 2002)
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Figure 2 Concepts & framework for knowledge management (Lin et al: 2006)
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intensifying the need for the integration and management of all three
(document, information and knowledge) within an organization.
According to Stoddart (2001), Knowledge Management, information
technology (IT) and information management are intricately linked. According
to her information management involves the categorization, organization and
access to information and data in computer applications, databases and
archives, while technology provides the tools to facilitate information flow and
knowledge sharing.
2.4.1 INTERNET
Sir Isaac Newton once said “If I have been able to see farther than
others, it was because I stood on the shoulders of giants.”
Invented in the 1840s. Signals sent over wires that were established over vast
distances. Used extensively by the U.S. Government during the American
Civil War, 1861 – 1865. Their goal was to build a network that would allow
scientist from different locations to communicate sharing information and
collaborate on military and scientific projects. Their second goal was to make
network this network to be built to function even if part of the network were
destroyed or disabled.
In 1984 on January 1, the Internet with its 1000 hosts converts en masse to
using TCP/IP for its messaging and in 2002: over 200 million hosts, by 2010 it
is estimated that over 80% of the whole universe will be on internet
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Griffin (1999) outlined the following as reasons for using the internet.
Global: information is available from computers located in virtually
every country of the world;
Interactive: the user of the Net can search for more information in
countless ways;
Dynamic: the information presented on the web is always changing,
because it is constantly being updated and new information is being
added;
Cross platform: the information available is not dependent upon the
type of computer used;
Distributed: it is impossible to store all of the information available on
the web in one location – the information is spread over thousands of
computers that are hooked up to the web and;
A hypertext information system: information is not presented in a linear
fashion, instead you can move from topic to topic at random with this
method of cross-referencing.
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Through the use of internet investigating officers all over the world from
different police agencies can form virtual communities, sharing and
transferring knowledge on how to speedy their investigations
2.4.1.2 INTRANET
Communication tool
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Application enabler
Collaboration facilitator
This type of intranet is a very dynamic tool that can be not only to educate and
inform employees, but increase corporate communication and establish and
maintain a corporate culture the organization wants to nurture. Stoddart
(2001), says an intranet useful for sharing knowledge will certainly fall into this
category as ‘those intranet which are static and non-collaborative do not
stimulate knowledge sharing.
Barr (1998), says the idea of intranet is a technology that permits the
organization to define itself as an entity, a group, a family, where everyone
knows their role and everyone works on improvement and health of the
organization. He says that if there is a collective will that need to be
communicated to all employees, it become easier to achieve.
Based on the above mentioned definitions, we can say that this a suitable tool
for virtual communities.
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According to Uzokwelu and Gunnardottir (2001) there are seven criteria that
characterize virtual communities: they are
All kinds of people and all kind of interests – the concept virtual
community refers to an on-line environment where all kinds of people
come together to do, some of or all of the following activities: exchange
information and ideas, share common interests, entertain each other,
seek different kinds of help, offer support to one another, trade goods
and services, and foster relationships.
User based – virtual communities provide an environment for users to
connect and communicate with each other. The more users the
community has, the more value is added to the community.
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According to Agre (1998:82), the life of every community includes some form
of activity within a particular institutional logic. This includes the activity within
a particular kinds of media are used. Community-building tools or activities
may include the following according Boettcher (1999) also called internet
services to support virtual communities:
E-mail – the e-mail can be seen as one of the simplest and widely used
computer mediated communication (CMC). Not only was e-mail one of
the first internet applications, it was also one of the reasons why many
people were attracted to internet according to Schneider (2000:49).
Within the community, an e-mail list can be seen as a tool that
connects people of the community via e-mail messages. There is one
central address to which a member of the community sends messages
for group. A person who receives mail has the choice to respond either
to the sender or to the whole list of members within the community.
According to Padula (2001), one of the best benefits of e-mail groups is
that members can send messages in asynchronous mode to other
people or programs, which means that messages received in the
electronic mailbox can be read at the later (more convenient) time.
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E-forms – through the web many forms can be filled, transmitted and
processed at the same time with user receiving instance response.
This reduces printing, postage and other related costs in forms
submission process.
Calendar – according to Kyrnin (2003), the online calendar is an often-
overlooked community builder. He defined calendar as simple as list of
events and their dates and times, or even complex, it is an invaluable
tool for building community, as they allow members to find out what’s
happening. This is where events like chat room schedule, guest
authors, or forum topics to be discussed should be listed, as well as
events outside the website.
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nobody watching them while they do it, can influence discussion they
might not have joined before.
Knowledge sharing and learning – according to Smith (2000), virtual
communities have the ability to focus knowledge sharing and learning,
if a group have enough in common and if the topic directly relates to
their work, a level of trust is created which results in greater depth and
value of individual exchange. According to Kimball and Rheingold
(2000), virtual communities can promote knowledge sharing, learning
and innovation in the following ways:
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According to McDermott (2000), there are ten factors that will contribute to
success of CoP’s.
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Management challenge:
Community challenge:
Get key thought leaders involved. The need for experience leaders as
attested by Van Vyk (2006:2), the our minister of Safety and Security
plans to lore back those retired investigators.
Build personal relationships among community members.
Develop an active passionate group. As per Bryson (2002:2), the need
for recognition and reward system should be met.
Create forums for thinking together as well as system for sharing
information.
Technical challenge:
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Personal challenges:
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2.5 NETWORK
Client-server technologies became the base platform for internet’s new applications,
but for the ever expanding use of on-line applications (Virtual Teams) the option
available is Peer-to-Peer (P2P). This in return will be of more help because with an
on-line applications file sharing is of most important. In this section we are going to
describe Peer-to-Peer (P2P). According to the research done by Barnard, Turner and
Van Rensburg (2004), the current networks for SAPS (investigators) are not
functioning accordingly referring to LANs and WANs.
Firstly let’s us describe LANs and WANs are. Local Area Network also known as LAN
is a computer network covering a local area, like a home, office, or group of
buildings. The characteristics of LANs in contrast to WANs (wide area
networks) are: their much higher data rates; smaller geographic range; and
that they do not require leased telecommunication lines that’s according to
Wikipedia website.
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WANs are used to connect local area networks (LANs) together, so that users
and computers in one location can communicate with users and computers in
other locations. Many WANs are built for one particular organization and are
private. Others, built by Internet service providers, provide connections from
an organization's LAN to the Internet.
Miller (2001:19) defined P2P as the topology and architecture of the computer
in a system in which each computer has equivalent capabilities and
responsibilities. P2P is a complete contrast to the traditional client-server
network architecture, for each participating computer or node in a P2P system
is called a “peer” meaning that the participants interact as equal that’s
according to Kubiatowicsz (2003:33). Participants act as a client and server
figure 5 will distinguish P2P and Client-Server network.
With P2P computers share data and resources, such as spare computing
cycles and storage capacity through internet or private network, computers
can also communicate directly and manage computing tasks without using
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servers, P2P attributes will definitely come handy to Virtual Communities and
Communities of Practice.
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Within this model, the features of the pure P2P and P2P with a simple
discovery server are enhanced with another feature of a server, namely
looking at the resources available within the P2P network. This architecture is
an enhancement in comparison to the P2P with a basic discovery server, for it
reduces the amount of time wasted by visiting each individual peer to obtain
shared resource information. In essence, the server initiates the
communication process between two peers.
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A file can contain any type of information, such as a research report, a case
study or a journal. Files may also contain multiple formats, for example a text
document may include embedded graphics that’s according Moore and
Hebeler (2002:37). The traditional definition of file sharing in a typical shared
distributed client–server file system is where two or more different users
access the same file at the same time.
With P2P if two computers are connected to a network, one can copy files
from one to the other. Since the Internet is nothing more than a giant global
network, there is no reason why any two computers connected to the Internet
cannot share files. The process whereby two computers share and copy files
over the Internet is what P2P file sharing is all about according to Miller
(2001:97).
The commonly shared file types on P2P Internet file-sharing systems include
the following: Audio and/or video Files, for example MP3 and Audio Video
Interleaved (AVI) files, Images, Documents, Software.
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There will be various inputs from different people who are aiming for one goal.
Therefore this will speed-up the case investigation, leading to less
postponement of cases. Through the use of these technologies there will be
less dockets disappearance, as dockets will be the responsibility of a group,
this will minimize the corruption. This technology should be seen as an
enabler of knowledge transfer and sharing.
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have computers for file serving, database serving, application serving and
communication serving
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Scalability - any of the key elements may be replaced when the need to
either grow or reduce processing for that element dictates, without
major impact on the other elements.
Adaptability - new technology (i.e., multi-media, broad band networks,
distributed database, pen computing, etc.) may be incorporated into the
system.
Affordability - cost effectiveness is insured by using less expensive
MIPs available on each platform.
Data Integrity - entity, domain and referential integrity are maintained
on the database server.
Accessibility - data may be accessed from WANs and multiple client
applications.
Performance - performance may be optimized by hardware and
process.
Security - data security is centralized on the server.
In our case, client-server environment will benefit the victims from the society.
The police who is responsible for opening a case will use his employee
number as his primary key for the purpose of audit trail. If dockets are missing
there is data integrity within this environment. Investigation officer is the one
to request the server to save the opened the docket into the database, lost of
dockets will be minimized. Victim will receive printed docket with particulars of
investigator who handles his/her case together with his/statement. Making
easier to trace maladministration within our police force. Currently they are
using mainframe as their central system, where they store cases, which does
not support objects (GUI). This system will help our investigators for the
purpose of storing and retrieving information.
2.8 SUMMARY
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The previous chapter was more focused on literature study, focus was on
knowledge technologies how they can benefit the investigators. This chapter
discusses the research methodology that will be adapted in this study and the
tools which will be utilized for data collection. The emphasis of this research
paper is to gather sufficient information and do an extensive analysis on the
manner in which SAPS is using information technologies and knowledge
management within itself. For this research paper, a case study methodology
will be used in order to obtain relevant data.
The use of research methods provides an individual with the knowledge and
skills needed to solve problems. According to Cooper and Schindler (2003:5),
they define research as an organized examination which aims to offer
solutions to problems. Research is a procedure used to find out more
knowledge about an incident by looking carefully at its characteristics and
activities. Its intention is to provide answers to identified problems.
For the purpose of this research, the qualitative research has been chosen, because it
allows the researcher to research on the subject more deeply using data collection
methods like interviews, questionnaires and literature that’s according to Babbie and
Mouton (2001:270).
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According to Putney and Green (1999), the following are the key points of
qualitative research:
The methodology that will be applied in the research paper is a case study. A
case study is applicable to this research paper because the sample is small
and is only limited to two companies. A semi-structured questionnaire was
selected by the researcher and the participators. The semi-structured
questionnaire was selected because the participators had stated that they did
not have the time to be interviewed in person.
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Cooper and Schindler (2003:150) contend that case studies places more
emphasis on a full contextual analysis of fewer events or conditions and their
interrelations.
The case study methodology is relevant to this research paper, because the
information about the companies that will participate in this research paper will
be systematically gathered and used to answer the semi-structured interview
questions. The case study methodology has many advantages. It will enable
the researcher to gain an in-depth view of how the two selected South African
companies are working with knowledge management and knowledge transfer
in practice.
It has the ability to focus on one or a few instances allowing the researcher
to deal with the subtleties and intricacies of complex situations. In a way it
makes it possible for the researcher to grapple relationships and social
processes that cannot be treated in this manner with other approaches.
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They allow the people to use a variety of research methods for capturing
the complex reality under scrutiny.
It can fit well with the need of small-scale research through a concentrated
effort on one research site.
Theory building and theory testing research can both use the case study
approach to good effects.
For the purpose of this research paper, the case study methodology will be
appropriate and relevant. The case study method engages a wide range of
audiences in data gathering and findings.
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The methods which will be utilized for data collection are: literature and
questionnaires. The data collection methods are explained:
3.6.1 LITERATURE
The researcher will use previous articles that look at knowledge management
and ways of handling knowledge transfer in an organization. The collection
and studying of these articles will be used to acquire a clear understanding
and knowledge as to how organizations handle knowledge transfer and
knowledge management. Information will be collected from the following
sources:
Publications
Articles
Internet
3.6.2 QUESTIONNAIRE
A questionnaire will be used for the collection of data that applies to how
organization SAPS Knowledge transfer and knowledge management. The
questionnaire will be given to SAPS to see if they are value knowledge
management. The aim is to get their ideas, views, advantages and problems
on how knowledge transfer and knowledge management has been
conducted.
The questionnaire will try to gather relevant data on how the selected
organization namely SAPS are working with knowledge management and
how knowledge is been transferred within the organization. The collected data
will be compared with the data collected from the literature.
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3.6.3 INTERVIEW
This is data collection method that involves an interaction between an interviewer and
a respondent in which the interviewer has a general plan of inquiry but not specific set
of questions that must be asked in particular words and in particular order ( Babbie
and Mouton, 2001: 288).
3.7 PARTICIPANTS
The participants were selected on the basis that they returned the
questionnaires sent to them. The following will be the participants of this
research paper:
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3.7.2 ORAGANIZATION
The following organization will be the participant in this research paper:
SAPS South African Police Service:
o Branch: Daveyton
o Branch: Germiston
BACKGROUND
The South African Police Service is the principal Law Enforcement Agency in
South Africa, and is committed to the creation of safe and secure environment
for all citizens of our country.
protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property;
and
Create a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa.
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3.8 CONCLUSION
A case study is a very useful research method when it comes to the down-
sizing investigation. It gives the researcher the chance to focus on what is
necessary and important in order to acquire detailed and clear facts about a
trend. But, because of its limitations; case studies has many criticism and this
forces the researchers to be more cautious when making their judgements.
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CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this chapter is to present and analyze the research data
obtained through the use of the semi-structured interviews. All the data
collected was analyzed and interpreted to determine how the selected
organization SAPS work with knowledge management and knowledge
transfer.
The analyses and interpretation of the research data will be divided into
sections namely: information technology usage and knowledge management.
Not all the SAPS departments which were handed questionnaires to complete
did returned. Investigators provided this research paper with answers.
In the following section the questions will be posed. It will be followed by the
responses from all the participants. A semi-structured interview questionnaire
was sent to all the participants. The questionnaire was used as a
measurement tool to evaluate whether SAPS uses its intranet/internet as a
possible knowledge sharing tool. The questionnaire brought together the
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The questions are based on the usage of Information Technology and other
knowledge management and knowledge transfer activities within SAPS. The
questions were focused was on knowledge sharing and transfer enabler
intranet.
Response: They are using Fixed line telephone, Mobile telephones, fax
machine and computers.
Response: those have access are using fixed telephone network and
mobile telephone network.
Do you use a completely paper based system or do you also make use of
computer software for internal administration and program management?
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Response: they use both paper based and computer software called
CAS (Crime Administration System)
You indicated that to some extent you use computer software for
administrative and managerial tasks. Please provide us with some more
detail.
Response: CAS
Response: they are using face-to face, paper based documents (e.g.
memos, letters, posters), fixed line telephone, fax machine, mobile
telephone, radio handsets such as Walky Talky.
How easy is it for your organization to access information relevant for your
work?
How often do you share your experience of knowing where to find with other
members of staff via the intranet/internet?
Response: they don’t have internet access, they are using their CAS
system to access cases from mainframe, not necessary sharing but
retrieving cases by their case numbers after all they are not using
internet/intranet.
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Response: Again they are using their computers which have CAS
system within to view and retrieve cases assigned to them,
internet/intranet not utilised.
How do you share your experience of knowing whom to ask for help with
other member of staff via intranet/internet?
How often do you share your experience of knowing how to resolve a problem
with other staff members via internet/intranet?
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Response: No
Response: Nothing
Please briefly state why you are not publishing on the intranet/internet?
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Response: No
Do you have any other comments you would like to make about sharing
knowledge over the intranet/internet?
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4.5 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the definition of analyses and interpretation were given. The
methods that were used in the collection of data were also mentioned.
The questions were combined into information technology usage and
knowledge management (knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer). The
questions looked at the activities affecting IT usage and knowledge
management within SAPS.
Interviewees were concern that the government was not prepared to invest in
training them on the use of IT and knowledge technologies. Some of the
investigators do not have computers in their offices. The fact that investigators
do not have internet/intranet show that the management do not see intranet
as knowledge sharing or transfer enabler. A blank questionnaire is attached in
appendix A for future use and answered questionnaire is available from
research on request. In the next chapter, the research paper will present the
summaries, conclusions and recommendations.
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CHAPTER 5
5.1 INTRODUCTION
This study sought to unveil how the use information technology and
knowledge management (sharing and transferring) can benefit SAPS in their
investigations. The research was conducted with the view of identifying
problems with the current systems in place and to make the SAPS aware of
available technologies that can help to eradicate or eliminate these problems.
The study found that SAPS is using both manual and electronic filling system.
They are using physical paper to open the docket and CAS system to register
case into their database in this case is mainframe. The problem is what is
recorded on CAS system is not exactly what is written on the docket.
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5.2.2 How can the use of knowledge technologies help in case investigations?
Firstly let discuss how the use of Client-Sever technology can help. In our
case, client-server environment will benefit both victims and investigators. The
police who is responsible for opening a case will use his employee number as
his primary key for the purpose of audit trail in case, if docket is missing there
is data integrity within this environment.
Investigation officer is the one to request the server to save the opened the
docket into the database, lost of dockets will be minimized. This environment
support GUI, therefore complainant will have copy of his/her docket instead of
only case number and investigators will have theirs. According to
Lewandowski (1998), there is communication software (support protocol)
between the server and client making conversion easier. System with graphic
user interface are easy to unlike mainframe programmes which are command
driven.
Victim will receive printed docket with particulars of investigator who handles
his/her case together with his/statement. Making easier to trace
maladministration within our police force. Currently they are using mainframe
as their central system, where they store cases, which does not objects (GUI).
Currently when the user opens the case he/she is only given case number as
a proof, whereas with Client-Server which supports GUI administrator can
scan the docket information into the computer.
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Secondly focus is on how the P2P technology can help in investigation. With
P2P, the system will enhance communication, collaboration, innovation and
competitiveness. It will also enhance the potential for innovation and
development by investigators. SAPS investigators will learn from each other
investigators , without ever being physically present, they can do it through
virtual communication. The cost of traveling will be minimized. The
investigators will have a broader understand of contents as it does not come
from one source. There will be knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer.
The investigators can share and transfer knowledge without being logged on
to the intranet or internet that’s according to Miller (2001)
There will be various inputs from different people who are aiming for one goal.
Therefore this will speed-up the case investigation, leading to less
postponement of cases. Through the use of these technologies there will be
less dockets disappearance, as dockets will be the responsibility of a group,
this will minimize the corruption. With P2P communication is possible without
being connected to intranet or internet.
Thirdly the focus is on how virtual communities and CoP’s can help with
investigation. According Kimball and Rheingold (2000), virtual communities
can promote knowledge sharing, learning and innovation because: Virtual
communities provide an ongoing context for knowledge exchange that can be
for more effective than memoranda. Virtual communities can promote
innovation. When groups get turned on by what they can do online, they go
beyond problem-solving and start inventing together. Discussion in the virtual
community can lead to the creation of community of memory for group
deliberation and brainstorming that stimulate the capture of ideas and facilities
finding information when it is needed. According to Pauleen and Yoong
(2001:191), little has been written on how on-line relationships among
employees influence business values and, subsequently, communication
among employees
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From the previous chapter, the interviewees mentioned that there was a need
for more training regarding to how to use their CAS system for most of
Investigators. Out of the analysis chapter it was found that the SAPS do not
necessarily use intranet to share and transfer knowledge. The management
should see intranet as enabler of knowledge management and knowledge
sharing culture.
5.3 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the findings of the study, the researcher makes the following
recommendations.
Based on the findings it is important that SAPS becomes a learning
organization. According to Easterby-Smith et al ‘learning organizations’
are organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the
results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are
nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are
continually learning how to learn together.
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5.4 CONCLUSION
The purpose of this research was to find out what technologies are currently
being used by SAPS and how can the use of knowledge technologies can
benefit the investigators with their investigations. Investigators are not using
intranet to share their experiences. It is high time that SAPS management see
intranet as knowledge sharing enabler. For SAPS to be learning organization
it needs to train its staff on available technologies.
The management should communicate the knowledge management plan and
massage that support and enhance commitment to a knowledge sharing
culture. After implementing these knowledge management technologies, it
should be compulsory to capture key learnings as part of investigation. The
investigators should be able to publish their knowledge on the SAPS intranet,
so that others can learn from their experiences.
Should these technologies implemented the following will be the benefits: (1)
Minimization of the loss of case dockets, by using electronic case dockets to reduce
paper work. (2) Improved information integrity, (3) Better police service and simpler
work for police officers in solving cases, (4) The need for postponement or
reminders of cases for further investigations will be eliminated Improved
management information on status of case being investigated, (5) Easy
sharing or transferring of knowledge amongst the investigators.
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BIBLOGRAPHY
AGRE. P.E.1998. Designing genres for new media: social, economic and
political contexts. In Cybersociety 2.0. Revisiting computer-mediate
communication and community. Edited by S.G. Jones. London: Sage.
BARNARD, J.R, TURNER, C.D & VAN RENSBURG, H. 2004. SAPS Projects as
Critical “Building Block” for the creation of an Integrated Justice System.
Available[online]:http://www.doj.gov.za/2004dojsite/cfw/ejustice/SAPS.pdf#search=
%22saps%20ijs%20projects%22. Accessed: 03/05/2006.
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BOETTCHER, S.1999. What types of virtual communities can build and what
tools are available. [Online]. Available:
http://www.fullcir.com/community/communitytypes.htm. Accessed 06/06/2006.
COOPER, D.R & SCHINDLER, P.S. 2003. Business Research Methods. 8th
Edition.
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LEEDY, P.D & ORMOROD, J.E. 2002. Practical Research. Planning and
Design 8th edition.
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National Day of Protest. 02 October 2006. 365 days still no justice for
Busisiwe. Available [online] : www.oneinnine.org.za/default.asp. Accessed :
09/10/2006.
PAULEEN, D.J. & YOONG, P. 2001. Facilitating virtual team relationships via
Internet and conventional communication channels. Internet Research:
Electronic Networking Applications and Policy 11(3):190-202.
PUTNEY, L.G. & GREEN, J.L. (1999). Reading research quarterly. [Online]
Available at:http://www.gsu.edu/mstswh/courses/it7000/papers/alookat.htm
Accessed: 12/06/2006.
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REISMAN, R.R. 1997. What’s an extranet? And other key terms. Available
[Online]: www.teleshuttle.com.
ROMM, C., PLISKIN, N. & CLARKE, R.L. 1997. Virtual Communities and
society: toward an integrative three-phase model. International Journal of
information Management 17(4): 261-270.
TILLMAN, H.N. 2000. Virtual community building using internet tools. [Online].
Available: http://www.hopetillman.com/i100vc.html. Accessed 06/06/2006.
VAN WYK, N. 2006. Not for all the money in the world. Former Judges and Police
officers pooh-pooh Nqakula’s plan to lure them back to fight crime. Available [Online] :
http://www.citypress.co.za. Accessed : 08/10/2006
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APPENDIX A QUESTIONNAIRE
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Radio
Television
Fixed line telephone
Mobile telephone
Fax machine
Computer
Email (continue with questions 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
Internet (continue with questions 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
Radio Handset (Walky Talky, CB radio)
None of the above
Don’t know
Other (please specify)
In which of the following places do you usually access your e-mails or the
internet? Please answer with yes or no. (Multiple selections possible).
In my office
At home
At a public provider (e.g. internet shop, telecenter)
Other (please specify)
Which of the following methods do you use to access the internet or send e-
mails? Please answer with yes or no.
(Multiple selections possible)
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Do you use a completely paper based system or do you also make use of
computer software for internal administration and program management?
You indicated that to some extent you use computer software for
administrative and managerial tasks. Please provide us with some more
detail.
Which of the following do you use for administrative and managerial tasks?
Please answer with yes or no. (Multiple selections possible)
Irrespective of your current use, how do you rate the importance of the
following software for the administration and management of organizations
like yours?
Use a scale of 1 – 5, where 1=”not important” and 5 = “extremely important”
1 2 3 4 5 Don’t know
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Consider all staff IN YOUR ENTIRE organization. How important are the
following methods for communicating with them?
Use a scale of 1 – 5, where 1=”not important” and 5 = “extremely important”
1 2 3 4 5 Don’t Not
know Applicable
Face-to face dialogue
Paper based documents
(e.g. memos, letters,
posters)
Fixed line telephone
Fax machine
Mobile telephone
Radio handsets (e.g. Walky
Talky or CB radio)
Email
Intranet
Internet tools for instant
messaging and telephony
(e.g. ICQ, MSN Messenger,
Skype, Yahoo Messenger)
How easy is it for your organization to access information relevant for your
work?
Of the following phrases, pick the one that is most applicable to you:
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Don’t know
Not applicable
How often do you share your experience of knowing where to find with other
members of staff via the intranet/internet?
How do you share your experience of knowing whom to ask for help with
other member of staff via intranet/internet?
How often do you share your experience of knowing how to resolve a problem
with other staff members via internet/intranet?
Yes No
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Please briefly state why you are not publishing on the intranet/internet?
Yes No
Yes No
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D.P MOHLALA PROJECT IV 99093862
Do you have any other comments you would like to make about sharing
knowledge over the intranet/internet?
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D.P MOHLALA PROJECT IV (ARTICLE) 99093862
APPENDIX B ARTICLE
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Donald Mohlala
Tshwane University of Technology
Private Bag x 680
Pretoria
0001
donaldmohlala@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
1 INTRODUCTION
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2 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
Secondly, they left out refining and representing processes, because they
believe that refining is not a major enough process in the knowledge flow, but
merely one aspect of the knowledge creation step and knowledge
representation generally falls within the scope of the storage and organization
process. Thirdly they added a separate process of knowledge sharing, they
replaced knowledge dissemination from Oluic-Vukovic (2001). According to
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Figure 2 Conceptual framework: knowledge management processes (Bouthillier and Shearer: 2002)
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another one (or more). This is where the relationship the two comes into
place.
Figure 3 Concepts and framework for knowledge management (Lin et al: 2006)
3 VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES
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4.1 INTERNET
According to him it is vast collection of computer networks which form and act
as a single huge network for transport of data and messages across distances
which can be anywhere from the same office to anywhere in the world, as
Griffin (1999) says internet is an information system composed of a massive
network of computers around the world.
Griffin (1999) outlined the following as reasons for using the internet.
Global: information is available from computers located in virtually evry
country of the world;
Interactive: the user of the Net can search for more information in
countless ways;
Dynamic: the information presented on the web is always changing,
because it is constantly being updated and new information is being
added;
Cross platform: the information available is not dependent upon the
type of computer used;
Distributed: it is impossible to store all of the information available on
the web in one location – the information is spread over thousands of
computers that are hooked up to the web and;
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4.2 INTRANET
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This type of intranet is a very dynamic tool that can be not only to educate and
inform employees, but increase corporate communication and establish and
maintain a corporate culture the organization wants to nurture. Stoddart
(2001), says an intranet useful for sharing knowledge will certainly fall into this
category as ‘those intranet which are static and non-collaborative do not
stimulate knowledge sharing.
Barr (1998), says the idea of intranet is a technology that permits the
organization to define itself as an entity, a group, a family, where everyone
knows their role and everyone works on improvement and health of the
organization. He says that if there is a collective will that need to be
communicated to all employees, it become easier to achieve.
Based on the above mentioned definitions, we can say that this a suitable tool
for virtual communities.
Miller (2001:19) defined P2P as the topology and architecture of the computer
in a system in which each computer has equivalent capabilities and
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Miller (2001) says with P2P computers share data and resources, such as
spare computing cycles and storage capacity through internet or private
network, computers can also communicate directly and manage computing
tasks without using servers, P2P attributes will definitely come handy to
Virtual Communities and Communities of Practice. This enables knowledge
transfer and sharing within the organization.
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4 FINDINGS
5 CONCLUSION
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The fact that investigators do not have internet/intranet show that the
management do not see intranet as knowledge sharing or transfer enabler.
According to Gundry and Mete (1996) Intranets aid knowledge sharing, they
can help to capture, organise, store and transmit source material from which
an individual may acquire knowledge. These information technologies should
be seen as relatives to knowledge management for they are enablers or
vehicles of knowledge transfer and sharing
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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
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REISMAN, R.R. 1997. What’s an extranet? And other key terms. Available
[Online]: www.teleshuttle.com.
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