Hazel Hall

Input-friendliness: motivating knowledge sharing across intranets.

The value of an intranet for knowledge management (KM) is largely dependent on the calibre of the content and tools that it provides to its users and its ultimate application in business operations. For many organisations, there is a particular dilemma regarding the development of internally produced intranet resources for KM applications. Employees will not feel encouraged to provide content until they believe that what they provide will be used and they will not use an intranet if it does not provide useful content. This paper considers strategies for making intranets ‘input-friendly’: how can organisations extract the content needed to add to the body of internally produced resources from their employees? The discussion explores factors that encourage intranet contributions. These include enabling conditions such as the provision of appropriate tools, the development of organisational KM culture and reward systems. The paper makes reference to studies drawn from the academic literature in business studies, information systems, organisational science and sociology, as well as to practice in case study organisations.

Creation and recreation: motivating collaboration to generate knowledge capital in online communities

The results of a research project that examined the factors that motivated individuals competing to win an award of @

Borrowed theory: applying exchange theories in information science research.

10,000 to interact collectively in a Yahoo e-group are presented. The project was the apparent willingness of competitors to help their rivals when only one prize was available. The findings revealed that the initial impetus for members to join the group was to discover information for personal benefit. Over time, however, individual desire to reciprocate the help received from the group developed out of the online interactions. Other results from the study *challenge the findings of previous research on the value of strong social capital in online communities; *confirm that in order to motivate active participation in online environments incentives offered should match the values of the group in question; *advocate that a balance needs to be achieved in determining the degree of focus in a discussion groups activities: a narrow focus leads to action amongst members and diminishes the requirement for social support and community control; *reveal that decisions on a communitys size may determine its power to support genuine collaboration and new knowledge creation: all-inclusive membership provides opportunities for individual learning, but true knowledge capital is generated in smaller, less public groups. These findings highlight issues that businesses may wish to consider when there are plans to create virtual communities of practice to meet corporate goals. This is particularly important with reference to furnishing environments where employees are willing to work collaboratively in the creation of new knowledge. This article is based in part on a paper presented at The Sixth International Virtual Communities Conference, Church House Conference Centre, Westminster, London, 16-17 June 2003.

KM, culture and compromise: interventions to promote knowledge sharing supported by technology in corporate environments

Abstract This article discusses the applicability of “borrowing” theory originally developed in other disciplines to information science research and, in particular, the analytical concepts and assumptions of social exchange theory as a framework for exploring motivational factors of knowledge sharing in large, distributed, information-intensive organizations. Social exchange theory relates to sociology, psychology, and anthropology; this article discusses the extent to which knowledge has been regarded as an “exchange resource.” This section is followed by an analysis of previous work that has tied exchange theory to areas of interest to information scientists. An ongoing research project tests the analytical concepts and assumptions of social exchange theory in a knowledge market and the potential for such work to generate further theory.

Organizational culture in knowledge creation, creativity and innovation: Towards the Freiraum model

The theme of knowledge sharing is discussed extensively in the knowledge management literature. Such work tends to focus on the barriers that impede knowledge sharing activity. Of these ‘culture’ is commonly cited as a major obstacle. This article examines what is meant by the term ‘culture’. In the context of efforts to promote good practice in knowledge management, it is argued that straightforward reference to culture as a barrier to knowledge sharing is inadequate. Rather, firms should be looking at power issues and, in particular, organizational politics to explain success and failure in attempts to motivate knowledge sharing. The domain of sociotechnical studies is considered as a means of unpicking cultural issues at work in specific environments through the deployment of actor-network theory to identify shifting organizational power relationships.

From triviality to business tool: the case of Twitter in library and information services delivery.

This paper draws on findings from an in-depth case study of practices related to the meeting of organizational goals pertinent to knowledge creation, creativity and innovation performance. Overall a mixed methods approach that used both quantitative and qualitative data was adopted in empirical research conducted within a large German manufacturing firm. A quantitative analysis of survey data highlighted factors necessary to nurture an environment conducive to knowledge creation, creativity and innovation. The organization should: be open to change; encourage and value free communication and new and/or unusual ideas; tolerate mistakes; and nurture intrinsically motivated staff. It should be supported by leaders who promote these characteristics as shared values, while challenging and empowering their staff to generate new ideas in a drive to further innovation. Further analysis of focus group and interview data in the same case study identified three main determinants that underpin knowledge creation and creativity: (1) structured ‘space’ that creates expertise and experience of individuals while working in routine; (2) willingness to innovate – individuals’ propensity to experiment with ideas, even at risk of failure; and (3) authorized and dedicated ‘space’ designated specifically for individuals to explore new ideas (‘Freiraum’). These findings have contributed to the development of a new articulation of the organization of creativity and innovation. It draws on established concepts from the domain of knowledge and creativity management, and extends these to deepen our understanding of how aspects of organizational culture, including leadership and social conditions, influence organizational performance in terms of (1) improving knowledge creation processes related to creativity, and (2) fostering innovation.

Library 2.0 and UK academic libraries: drivers and impacts

This article evaluates microblogging in general, and Twitter in particular, as a professional tool in library and information services provision. It draws on the findings of a study completed in 2010 based on survey and interview responses from over 300 librarian participants.

Promoting the priorities of practitioner research engagement

At a time that the term ‘Library 2.0’ has attracted attention in the professional and academic press of library and information science, there appears to be a lack of consensus as to what this nomenclature actually means. At one extreme Library 2.0 is purported to be primarily concerned with the implementation of web-based tools, and thus supports the view that its drivers are intimately related to technology. However, it has also been suggested that Library 2.0 is not solely about technology. Rather, the concept also incorporates changing the physical activities and services delivered by libraries, that is, Library 2.0 is services driven. Another perspective is that libraries have always had a history of adopting technology and user-centred improvements to services, and thus Library 2.0 may not even be anything new. This article reports on a research project which assessed the perceptions of Library 2.0, and the extent of its adoption, in the UK academic library sector. The main finding of the study is that Library 2.0 is predominantly viewed as the selective application of Web 2.0 tools and techniques with user services at the heart of any implementation. Although Library 2.0 does not present a new paradigm, its effects are felt in services delivery. Of particular interest are changes in the relationships between those who provide information services and the different generations of the end-users that they serve.

New knowledge and micro-level online organization: 'communities of practice' as a development framework

One of the aims of the Library and Information Science Research Coalition is to promote library and information science practitioner research. Successfully meeting this aim should result in greater use of the existing knowledge base and the creation of new knowledge on Library and Information Science (LIS) practice. LIS practitioner engagement in research should also be channelled to build an evidence base that demonstrates the value and impact of LIS practice. Possible means of the LIS practitioner community meeting these goals is discussed with reference to the support offered by the Library and Information Science Research Coalition.

Relationship and role transformations in social media environments

The role of communities of practice in knowledge creation is recognised in a number of contexts. The authors take a socio-technical perspective and identify four characteristics of such communities: situated learning, situated action, distributed cognition and social infrastructure. These are combined into a loosely normative framework to define and analyse communities of practice at the level of online micro-organisation. The framework is applied to three development projects: a reference service, a virtual enterprise initiative and a simulation of an electronic shopping mall. The authors discuss its potential in explaining and stimulating new knowledge in micro-level online work environments.