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KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE - Coggle Diagram
KNOWLEDGE
SHARING AND
COMMUNITIES
OF PRACTICE
THE SOCIAL NATURE OF KNOWLEDGE
Until knowledge is collectively accepted and institutionalized across the organization, organizational-level learning cannot occur.
Context helps distinguish between knowledge management and document management.
Huysman and deWit describe a collective acceptance of shared knowledge as being the key method of generating value to the organization.
Social constructivists argue that knowledge is produced through the shared understandings that emerge through social interactions.
Thomas & Betts
When a network becomes the main means by which information gets done in an organization, our hierarchical crutches are knocked down.
Networks operate informally with few rules; they depend on trust.
Thomas & Betts Corporation is also using technology to foster knowledge sharing.
The company runs an E-learning-management system from ThoughtWare Technologies Inc. that tracks employees' continuing education.
SOCIOGRAMS AND SOCIAL
NETWORK ANALYSIS
Social network analysis (SNA) is the mapping and measuring of relation-
ships and flows between people, groups, organizations, computers, or other information/knowledge processing entities
SNA provides both a visual and a mathematical analysis of complex human systems to identify patterns of interaction such as average number of links between people in an organization or community, number of subgroups, information bottlenecks, knowledge brokers, and knowledge hoarders.
The process of social network analysis typically involves the use of questionnaires and/or interviews to gather information about the relationships between a defined group or network of people.
What information you need to gather in order to build a relevant picture of your group or network is important. Good survey design and questionnaire design are therefore key
considerations.
Community Yellow Pages
All communities are about connections between people, and these connections are often used to develop corporate yellow pages or an expertise location system.
Yellow pages, or expertise location systems, were among the earliest KM
applications, and they remain one of the best ways to initiate wider-scale
knowledge sharing in organizations. Two examples are from Texaco and
British Petroleum.
KNOWLEDGE-SHARING COMMUNITIES
As far back as 1887, the German sociologist Ferdinand Tonnies compared and contrasted the more direct, more total, and more significant interactions to be found in a community as opposed to the more formal, more abstract relationships to be found in a society
The first virtual communities emerged about a decade after the establishment of the Internet.
These early communities were made possible by the printing press and are sometimes referred to as "textual" communities because they primarily circulate written documents.
Types of Communities
All communities share some basic characteristics, regardless of the type of
community.
Reasons for interacting with one another
will typically be a personal goal and contribution toward the community’s goal.
a shared repertoire refers to the
shared workspace in which members can communicate with one another, and
store and share knowledge products, their profiles, and so on.
In other words, networks form because people need one another to reach
common goals.
Roles and Responsibilities in CoPs
Community
members may take an active role by contributing to discussions or providing
assistance to other members.
Kim (2000) lists the key roles as (1) visitors, (2) novices, (3) regulars,
(4) leaders, and (5) elders.
CoP facilitators have perhaps the most demanding role.
CoP knowledge services are information/knowledge integrators who serve
to interface with all CoPs to ensure clarity and lack of duplication of the information disseminated within and from the CoPs.
OBSTACLES TO KNOWLEDGE SHARING
The Undernet
Organizations often conclude that knowledge sharing does not occur
because no one is using the organizational knowledge repository.
KM succeeds when it is a grassroots or demand-driven initiative
rather than a top-down technology push.
The undernet is often referred to as KM’s dirty little secret:
ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND
SOCIAL CAPITAL
Human capital refers to a person’s education, skills, and background neces-
sary to be productive in an organization or profession.
The concrete personal relationships and networks of relations generate trust, establish expectations, and create and enforce norms.
Knowledge-sharing communities are the primary producers of social capital,
as they provide the opportunity for individuals to develop a network with
members who share similar professional interests.
A broader understanding of social capital accounts for both the positive and
negative aspects by including vertical as well as horizontal associations between
people, and includes behavior within and among organizations, such as firms.
STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Connecting professionals across platforms, across distances.
Standardizing professional practices
Avoiding mistakes
Leveraging best practices
Reducing time to talent
Building reputation
Taking on stewardship for strategic capabilities.
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
Whereas communities of practice do emerge and run on their own, a minimal
level of investment and support is crucial
senior management should ensure that the organi-
zational climate or culture is one that encourages networking.
In addition to financial support, it is important that employees are given the time they need to fulfill their knowledge-sharing roles and responsibilities.
A conversation is more than an intellectual endeavor: it is a fundamentally
social process, as is learning.