Marleen Huysman

IT to support knowledge sharing in communities, towards a social capital analysis

Ignoring the informal, non-canonical nature of knowledge sharing, including peoples motivation, ability and opportunity to share knowledge, is one of the key causes of resistance to use knowledge-sharing tools. In order to improve knowledge sharing supported by information technology (IT), tools need to be embedded in the social networks of which it is part. This has implications for our knowledge on the design requirements of such socially embedded IT. The paper reviews tools that are designed for the purpose to foster social capital. We will then discuss what is needed for an IS design theory related to knowledge communities and how such a theory could incorporate social capital theory.

Managing knowledge sharing: Emergent and engineering approaches

We wished to determine how the process of knowledge sharing could be managed, seeing that it is a knowledge management dilemma. If knowledge sharing is crucial to an organizations interests, but is inherently emergent in nature, how can the organization still manage the process? In order to answer this question, a distinction was made between two approaches towards managing knowledge sharing: an emergent approach, focusing on the social dynamics between organizational members and the nature of their daily tasks, and an engineering approach, focusing on management interventions to facilitate knowledge transfer. While the first is central to todays thinking about knowledge, we used a field study in six organizations to show that both approaches have value in explaining knowledge sharing. Instruments that are part of the engineering approach create conditions for variables in the emergent approach, which in turn also exert a direct influence on knowledge sharing.

Communities and Technologies

The book contains 24 research articles related to the emerging research field of Communities and Technologies (C&T). The papers treat subjects such as online communities, communities of practice, Community support systems, Digital Cities, regional communities and the internet, knowledge sharing and communities, civil communities, communities and education and social capital. As a result of a very quality-oriented review process, the work reflects the best of current research and practice in the field of C&T.

The role of Information Technology in building and sustaining the relational base of communities

The popularity of the concept of communities is growing and so are ideas on how to support these communities with technologies. We can find this particularly in the field of management and organization studies, in which communities are more and more seen as a solution for rigid, hierarchical and conservative bureaucratic structures. In fact, communties can be seen as the latest wave in an ongoing evolution of organizational structures (Wenger, 2000, Lesser, 2000). In the age-old traditional functional organization, concentration of expertise was (and still is) under hierarchical control. In the decades after World War II, and in specific during the seventies, the multi-divisional organization was seen as the answer to the ever-expanding functional organization. Business units were introduced as an organizational structure alternative to the functional division. A decade later, project-based organization entered the organizational landscape. Project teams were designed in order to be closer to the market. Since the mid-nineties, knowledge based organizations have overshadowed the project-based organization, at least that is what popular business press tells us. Communities instead of teams are the dominant structure of the organization, also coined as communities of communities (Brown and Duguid, 1991). Communities differ notably from conventional units of organization, such as teams or work groups. Group theory in general (Hackman, 1990) perceives groups in an organization, as

Keeping the wheels turning: The dynamics of managing networks of practice

Intra-organizational networks of practice (NOPs) confront managers with a dilemma: they must manage NOPs to reap benefits from integrating geographically dispersed knowledge, but the inherently emergent nature of NOPs implies that management control may frustrate practice-related knowledge to be shared. Based on a case study of 22 NOPs in a geographically dispersed development organization (‘TDO’), we develop a model that disentangles the dynamics underlying this dilemma, helping to better understand it. Specifically, four dynamic relationships are interrelated and involve four kinds of embeddedness (organizational, in practice, relational, and structural) that relate dynamically to knowledge sharing in NOPs. Interventions in both the content shared in the network and the connections among network members can influence each of these relations. This study contributes to theoretical and practical understanding of how to manage NOPs without killing them.

An organizational learning perspective on information systems planning

In this article, the process of formulating a plan for information systems applications and implementing the plan is considered a process of learning for the organization which carries out the process. The experience gained in this learning process must be regarded as a vital source for the future success of information systems. The success is seen as a result of mutual adjustment of both the technology and the organization taking place in an evolutionary manner in a setting which is more or less idiosyncratic. It is at the same time a process of accumulation of experience and knowledge through trial-and-error experimentation. Conceptual arguments for an organizational learning approach are provided as well as some implications.

The Emergence of a Knowledge-Based View of Clusters and Its Implications for Cluster Governance

This article examines the knowledge component in cluster literature from its origins to the present. A chronological perspective is deployed in order to shed light on how the concept of clusters has evolved. Given the increasing interest in clusters as knowledge repositories, and the apparent conviction among policymakers of the manageability of clusters, lessons learned from knowledge management (KM) practices in organizations might well be applied to the many policy efforts aimed at governing clusters. We argue that introducing KM initiatives on a regional level should be accompanied by an understanding of the possible downfalls that are associated with KM failures.

Lost in space? Cognitive fit and cognitive load in 3D virtual environments

In this paper, we explore how visual representations of information in 3D virtual environments (3DVEs) supports both individual and shared understanding, and consequently contribute to group decision making in tasks with a strong visual component. We integrate insights from cognitive fit theory and cognitive load theory in order to formulate hypotheses about how 3DVEs can contribute to individual understanding, shared understanding, and group decision making. We discuss the results of an experiment in which 192 participants, in 3-person teams, were asked to select an apartment. As proposed by cognitive fit theory, our results indicate that 3DVEs are indeed more effective in supporting individual understanding than 2D information presentations. Next, in line with cognitive load theory, the static presentation of 3D information turns out to be more effective in supporting shared understanding and group decision making than an immersive 3DVE. Our results suggest that although the 3DVE capabilities of realism, immersion and interactivity contribute to individual understanding, these capabilities combined with the interaction and negotiation processes required for reaching a shared understanding (and group decision), increases cognitive load and makes group processes inefficient. The implications of this paper for research and practice are discussed.

Social Influence in Networks of Practice An Analysis of Organizational Communication Content

Networks of Practice (NoPs) facilitate knowledge sharing among geographically dispersed organization members. This research tests whether social influence in NoPs is reinforced by actors’ embeddedness in practice (knowledge about informal content), organizational embeddedness (knowledge about formal organizational content), structural embeddedness (knowledge about who knows what), and relational embeddedness (knowledge about informal relationships). A full-fledged automated content analysis on all postings on four NoPs maintained by a multinational chemical company revealed four dimensions in communication content that largely coincide with the proposed embeddedness types. We measured social influence by assessing to what extent actors’ use of uncommon language traits was adopted in the responses to the postings. Hypothesis testing revealed that network members who communicate about informal practice, and know who knows what, exert more social influence than others. The results suggest that network members’ social influence is rooted in their utilitarian value for others, and not in their organizational or relational embeddedness.

Knowledge Sharing on Enterprise Social Media: Practices to Cope With Institutional Complexity

This study examines the use of enterprise social media ESM for organizational knowledge sharing and shows that professionals face ambiguities because their knowledge sharing behavior is informed by an institutional complexity that consists of 2 dissimilar institutional logics: logics of the profession, and logics of the corporation. Our qualitative case study of an ESM at an IT consultancy organization shows that professionals find ways to manage the ambiguities they experience by engaging the affordances of ESM in such a way as to develop coping practices: connection management, reputation management, and information management. By complementing the affordance perspective with an institutional logics perspective, we are able to advance scholarly understanding on how ESM can facilitate but also frustrate knowledge sharing.