sharing capability: the development of a framework to investigate knowledge sharing in distributed...

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Sharing capability: the development of a framework to investigate knowledge sharing in distributed organisations

Hazel HallSenior LecturerSchool of ComputingNapier University, Edinburgh

[email protected]

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Does social capital drive knowledge management?

Research literature

Practice as reported in professional press

Consultancy work

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How can this be explored in a robust way for a doctoral dissertation?

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How can this be explored in a robust way for a doctoral dissertation?

Investigate a knowledge intensive organisation with a track record in KM

Use an academic theoretical framework to design research instruments

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“Social exchange for knowledge exchange”, OKLC 2001, Leicester

Discussion centred on theoretical framework

• Exchange theories in general• Social exchange theory in particular• Treatment of social exchange theory in information science (e.g.

scholarly communication, citations and acknowledgements as gifts, information sharing across networks)

… and plans for primary data collection for doctoral research

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Exchange theories

• Actors • Resources• Structures• Processes

Social exchange theory

peoplewhat people valuedependent relationshipsinteractions, opportunities

Few instances of information/knowledge treated as exchange resources

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Evolution of research question

Can social exchange theory be extended to knowledge sharing practice over intranets within large

distributed organisations?

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Evolution of research question

Can social exchange theory be extended to knowledge sharing practice over intranets within large

distributed organisations?

Incentives to generate exchange

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Incentives for knowledge sharing

Rewards Conditions

Critical massSoft

Hard

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects

Incentives for knowledge exchange (literature review)

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Rewards Conditions Infrastructure

To jump start knowledge sharing

For long-term compliance To help new members of staff

For distributed staff

For cross-team working

For wide dissemination

For “community” benefits

To encourage experimentation

To match “expectations” of personality types

To promote moral obligation

to knowledge as a public good

Move from knowledge as a private good

with appropriate support

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Company identified

• large • multi-national• distributed• information intensive• intranet dependent

Primary data collection October - December 2001

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Possible data subjects

• Knowledge Managers• Web Site Managers • UK-based• represent company’s lines

of business, functions and infrastructure groupings

Company identified

• large • multi-national• distributed• information intensive• intranet dependent

Primary data collection October - December 2001

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Rewards Conditions Infrastructure

Schedule for semi-structured interviews

Snowball technique

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Full set of data

• 20 transcripts• 14 Knowledge Managers• 6 Web Site Managers• 50:50 gender split• represent company’s lines


Preliminary data analysis

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Partial set of data

• 10 transcripts• 7 Knowledge Managers • 3 Web Site Managers• 50:50 gender split• represent company’s lines


Full set of data

• 20 transcripts• 14 Knowledge Managers• 6 Web Site Managers• 50:50 gender split• represent company’s lines


Preliminary data analysis

Data analysis to date limited to a sub-set of data

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Rewards Conditions

Critical massSoft

Hard

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects

Data analysis to date limited to one main theme

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Goals of preliminary data analysis

• To understand perceptions of:– nature and degree of knowledge sharing in company– barriers to knowledge sharing in company– roles of rewards for knowledge sharing in company

• Relate findings to the concepts of the knowledge market and exchanges

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Nature and degree of knowledge sharing in company

Value recognised

Concerns over buy-in

Economic

For staff, e.g morale, retention

Mission statement

Knowledge sharing as job requirement

TrainingInvestment

Concerns over interest in codification

Senior management support

ImpossibleOverload

Effort required to extract content

Sharing = intranet input

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Concerns over buy-in

Nature and degree of knowledge sharing in company

Value recognisedEconomic

For staff, e.g morale, retention

Mission statement

Knowledge sharing as job requirement

InvestmentTraining

Concerns over interest in codification

Senior management support

ImpossibleOverload

Effort required to extract content

Sharing = intranet input

TENSIO

N

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Barriers to knowledge sharing

Treatment of information & knowledge as assets

Relationships

Use of systems

Organisational interest

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Relationships

Use of systems


“confidential” information, “bad” news,intellectual property, assets unrecognised

difficulties in making/keeping friends

system under-use, cliques, alternative means of meeting needs

lack of buy-in, confusion IM/KM, company priorities

Examples in tables 3-5

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Certain assets not traded

Restrictions on trade of certain goods

Relationships

Lack of trading partners

Barriers between markets & traders

Use of systems

Grey, black & alternative economies

Lack of market infrastructure in official economy


Inappropriate regulatory frameworks

Lack of market intervention

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Certain assets not traded

Restrictions on trade of certain goods

Relationships

Lack of trading partners

Barriers between markets & traders

Use of systems

Grey, black & alternative economies

Lack of market infrastructure in official economy


Inappropriate regulatory frameworks

Lack of market intervention

Support of exchange structures

Exchange resources

Exchange actors & support of exchange structures

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Rewards

Soft

Hard

Economic & career gains

Access to information and knowledge

Enhanced reputation &personal satisfaction

Roles of rewards for knowledge sharing

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Rewards

Soft

Hard





Too difficult to implement & measure (problems setting up market)More effective routes to such resources exist (other markets)Trades description problems

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Rewards

Soft

Hard





Vocabulary of exchangeResource under-valued: opportunities for free-ridingDifferent interpretations of bargain lead to quality issues - nagging, charitable donationsEconomy does not value this currency

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Rewards

Soft

Hard





Acknowledged & employed by KM staff - indirect tie to economic & career gainsPersonal satisfaction as incidental

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Analysis to date

• Findings articulate with previous studies: intentions of designers of systems to promote knowledge sharing are rarely realised in implementation.

• There is limited evidence of social exchange in knowledge markets: parallels with exchange theory are more easily drawn. (However data collected on enabling conditions and infrastructure is yet to be analysed. Indications are that social infrastructure will be a significant factor.)

• Means of implementation may assume greater importance in later analysis - focus on codification, interpretations of “knowledge sharing”.

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Analysis to date




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Analysis to date




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Related workDavenport, E. & Hall, H. (2001). New knowledge and micro-level online

organization: 'communities of practice' as a development framework. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (CD ROM). Los Alamitos: IEEE.

Davenport E. & Hall, H. (2002). Organizational knowledge and communities of practice. In B. Cronin & D, Shaw (Eds.). Annual Review of Information Science and Technology (pp. 171-227). Medford NJ: Information Today.

Hall, H. (2001). Input-friendliness: motivating knowledge sharing across intranets. Journal of Information Science 27(2), 139-146.

Hall, H. (2001). Social exchange for knowledge exchange. Paper presented at the International Conference on Managing Knowledge, University of Leicester, April 10-11 2001. [http://www.bim.napier.ac.uk/esis/about_us/hazel_publications.html]

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