Hala Annabi

Customer Knowledge Management

Customer knowledge has received little attention in the knowledge management literature. The authors of this exploratory study argue that practices in marketing and customer relationship management have not been able to capture knowledge from customers that comes from social interactions with firm employees. The authors propose a three-step model by which companies can obtain this knowledge. The models theoretical base comes from the information retrieval and socialization concepts of the knowledge management literature. The paper identifies cultural changes required to make this process successful.

Effective work practices for software engineering: free/libre open source software development

We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackmans [34] model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory [52] and collective mind [79] to extend Hackmans model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.

A Content Analytic Comparison of Learning Processes in Online and Face-to-Face Case Study Discussions

While much research has shown that asynchronous learning networks (ALNs) can produce learning equivalent to face-to-face (FTF) classrooms, there has been little research that explicitly explores similarities and differences between the learning processes that occur in ALN and FTF activities. This study used a content analytic framework (derived primarily from previous work of Anderson, Archer, Garrison, and Rourke) to analyze transcripts from eight case study discussions, four FTF and four ALN. While previous authors developed a model that studies cognitive, social, and teaching processes in ALN discussions, the current scheme also considers characteristics of the discourse process. The findings provide evidence that ALNs generate high levels of cognitive activity, at least equal to, and in some cases superior to, the cognitive processes in the FTF classroom. The findings also suggest that students assume some aspects of the teachers role in ALNs, and that student-to-student interactions contain a greater proportion of high-level cognitive indicators than do student-to-teacher interactions.

Effective Work Practices for FLOSS Development: A Model and Propositions

We review the literature on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development and on software development, distributed work and teams more generally to develop a theoretical model to explain the performance of FLOSS teams. The proposed model is based on Hackmans model of effectiveness of work teams, with coordination theory and collective mind to extend Hackmans model by elaborating team practices relevant to effectiveness in software development. We propose a set of propositions to guide further research.

A content analytic comparison of FTF and ALN case-study discussions

While much research has shown that ALNs can produce learning equivalent to FTF classrooms, there has been little empirical research that explicitly and rigorously explores similarities and differences between the learning processes that occur in ALN and FTF activities. Transcripts from eight case study discussions, 4 FTF, 4 ALN, were content analyzed. The study used a content analytic framework derived primarily from previous work of Anderson, Archer, Garrison and Rourke. These authors developed a model that studies cognitive, social, and teaching processes in ALN discussions. Based on the work of Aviv (2000), the current scheme also considers characteristics of the discourse process. The findings provide evidence that ALNs generate high levels of cognitive activity, at least equal to, and in some cases superior to, the cognitive processes in the FTF classroom.

Social Media as the Missing Link: Connecting Communities of Practice to Business Strategy

Communities of Practice (CoP) have long been considered powerful Knowledge Management (KM) mechanisms. CoP, however, are often viewed independently from organizational goals and structures, as they are primarily seen as a means of individual knowledge sharing and learning. In this article, we argue that CoP supported by social media have great potential to contribute to organizational goals, such as business strategy. We seek to support this statement through an embedded case study that includes 54 CoP within a prominent multinational engineering firm. This investigation explores the extent to which CoP contribute to business strategy. The papers contribution is in providing five guidelines for practice that outline how CoP can be best designed to contribute to business strategy and how social media can serve as the “missing link” to execute those guidelines.

Guidelines to Align Communities of Practice with Business Objectives: An Application of Social Media

Communities of Practice (CoP) have long been considered a powerful Knowledge Management mechanism. CoP however, are often viewed independent of organizational goals and structures. CoP are known for knowledge sharing and learning. In this paper we argue that CoP supported by social media have great potential to contribute to business objectives. This investigation is an embedded case study that includes 54 CoP within a prominent Engineering multinational firm. The investigation explores the extent to which the 54 CoP contribute to business objectives. The papers contribution is in providing five guidelines for practice that outline how CoP can be best designed to contribute to business objectives and how social media can serve as the vehicle through which to execute those guidelines.

Methods as Theories: Evidence and Arguments for Theorizing on Software Development

In this paper we argue that software development methods represent theories on how best to engage the impressively complex and inherently socio-technical activity of making software. To help illustrate our points we draw on examples of three software methods: the waterfall approach, packaged software development, and free/libre and open source software development, In doing this, we highlight that software development methods reflect—too often implicitly—theories of (1) how people should behave, (2) how groups of people should interact, (3) the tasks that people should do, (4) the order of these tasks, (5) the tools needed to achieve these tasks, (6) the proper outcomes of these tasks, (7) the means to make this all happen, and (8) that these relations among concepts are further set in specific social, cultural, economic, and industrial contexts. We conclude by highlighting three trends in conceptualizing these eight elements.

From Individual Contribution to Group Learning

Open Source Software (OSS) groups experience many benefits and challenges with respect to the core group’s effectiveness. In order to capitalize on the benefits and minimize the challenges, OSS groups must learn not only on the individual level, but also on the group level. OSS groups learn by integrating individual contributions into the group’s product and processes. This paper reports on the characteristics of the learning process in OSS groups. The study utilized an embedded single case study design that observed and analyzed group learning processes in the Apache Web server OSS project. The study used learning opportunity episodes (LOE) as the embedded unit of analysis and developed and utilized three content analytic schemes to describe the characteristics of the learning process and the factors affecting this process.

Improving the retention of women in the IT workforce: An investigation of gender diversity interventions in the USA

To meet the high demand for information technology (IT) professionals, organizations must become more effective at attracting and retaining women. Ninety‐seven percent of companies surveyed by Forbes in 2011 had implemented diversity and inclusion interventions. Despite these efforts, the percentage of women working in IT continues to decline, raising questions about the effectiveness of current organizational interventions aimed at increasing gender diversity. This study sought to gain a better understanding of these organizational interventions by developing a comprehensive framework based on comparative case studies of 9 organizations. The framework integrates intervention characteristics and barriers IT women experience and the coping methods they use to address barriers. This paper presents propositions based on this theoretical framework to guide further research on the effectiveness of gender diversity and inclusion interventions in IT.