The Use of Community to Organize Knowledge: The Case of an Energy Company (original) (raw)
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The Use of Community to Organize Knowledge
2020
This research conducted within an energy sector company brings together both information systems and knowledge organization (KO). It is based on a case study, aiming to analyze the ‘interface’ question in a comprehensive way through the building of an information system dedicated to the organization of knowledge within a community of practice. Through this case, we will develop an approach related to KO technologies that highlight the importance of the ‘interface’ not only as user interface in software but, moreover, as a pathway between users, communities and organizations necessary for promoting a common understanding and use of knowledge in an efficient way. 1.0 Introduction In this political and economic understanding of the society that is the ‘Information Society’ or the ‘Knowledge Society’ (first used by Drucker (1969) then by the UNESCO), the question of how to organize the knowledge is essential. From decades knowledge organization systems (KOS) (Mazzocchi 2018) such as cla...
Prior research on knowledge management and knowledge management systems has tended to assume one of two perspectives on knowledge - knowledge-as-object (e.g. knowledge is explicit) or knowledge-as-action (e.g. knowledge is tacit). However in the real world the distinction is not that straightforward. Explicit and tacit knowledge are said to be mutually constituted rather than separate and distinct. Thus in this exploratory study we use Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of transparency rather than a taxonomy of knowledge types as a means to determine how technology might support knowledge work. We found the conceptualization of transparency to be a useful alternative and hope our findings make way for additional research in the area.
Sustainable Communities for Knowledge Management Systems in the New Technological Era
2010
The topic of knowledge management has received considerable attention in research as well as practice. However, the success of knowledge management systems remains elusive. This chapter provides a framework, which suggests that knowledge management success can be achieved by designing sustainable communities of practice. Communities of practice have proven to have significant economic and practical implications for organizations. A growing body of literature in knowledge management recognizes the importance of communities that foster collaborative learning in organizations and almost all knowledge management systems have a 'network' component that facilitates connecting people in communities of practice. Technological advancements in social systems such as weblogs, wikis, social networking sites, and virtual worlds enable new ways in which such communities can be supported. This study takes into account affordances of these technologies in facilitating knowledge management. This study draws on literature in knowledge management and communities of practice to arrive at properties of a community that make it sustainable. These properties can then be viewed as a blueprint of what a community needs to have to achieve its function of fostering collaboration and hence, generating knowledge. In sum, this research is intended to help practitioners arrive at how best to design communities in knowledge management systems.
Knowledge Nodes: the reication of organizational communities. A case study
2003
In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which "own" local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are unveiled and reified as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/negotiation processes.
Knowledge Nodes: the reification of organizational communities. A case study
2003
In our work a new approach, the Distributed Knowledge Management (DKM) approach, is used and organizations are seen as constellations of communities, which \own" local knowledge and exchange it through meaning negotiation coordination processes. In order to reify communities within a DKM system, the concept of Knowledge Node (KN) is used and then applied in a case study: a complex Italian national firm, the Impresa Pizzarotti & C. S.p.A. All communities of practices are un-veiled and rei ed as KNs within a high level architecture of a DKM system. In this paper it is argued that, even if knowledge has to be organized and made useful to the whole organization, there are types of knowledge that must be managed in an autonomous way, and the DKM approach is a good system which to deal with coordination/negotiation processes.
This research aims at understanding how people share knowledge in their everyday work in a project-based company. The social structures for knowledge sharing are characterised as formal, informal, and quasi-informal structures. They vary from those with high formalisation to the informal, and even include structures which are invisible and unrecognised in the organisation. They also vary in their composition. They may share the same or different space, and communication is based on face-to-face or virtual interaction. Data was collected by means of documents and interviews (n=18) during the autumn of 2002 and the winter of 2003 from an Internet consultancy company. The study shows the great variety of formal, informal, and quasi-informal social structures that are used for knowledge sharing in the case company. In all, sixteen different structures were found. The number of formal structures is smaller than the number of informal ones. Their analysis in terms of five dimensions also shows their great heterogeneity.
Engineering the community of practice for maintenance of organizational knowledge
Human Factors and Power …, 2002
Organizational knowledge is normally viewed as something that can be captured, transmitted, processed, stored and retrieved. In this paper we argue for a transactional view in which knowledge is collective, distributed and dynamic. By that view, organizational knowledge is created and maintained primarily through seamless collaborative and social processes. This implies that storage of and access to knowledge is less of a concern than is the reciprocity inherent in shared practice. We argue that the most effective goal for cognitive analysis and design is to promote development of a work-place community of practice in which knowledge is created, shared and maintained via natural processes of communication, negotiation and collaboration. We use descriptions from ethnographic studies to identify a number of important processes and argue for workplace reengineering strategies that strengthen natural interactions within the workplace.
Knowledge management systems: finding a way with technology
Journal of Knowledge …, 2005
To consider the role of technology in knowledge management in organizations, both actual and desired. Design/methodology/approach Facilitated, computer supported group workshops were conducted with 78 people from ten different organizations. The objective of each workshop was to review the current state of knowledge management in that organization and develop an action plan for the future. Findings Only three organizations had adopted a strongly technology-based "solution" to knowledge management problems, and these followed three substantially different routes. There was a clear emphasis on the use of general information technology tools to support knowledge management activities, rather than the use of tools specific to knowledge management. Research limitations/implications Further research is needed to help organizations make best use of generally available software such as Intranets and e-mail for knowledge management. Many issues, especially human ones, relate to the implementation of any technology. Participation was restricted to organizations that wished to produce an action plan for knowledge management. The findings may therefore represent only "average" organizations, not the very best practice. Practical implications Each organization must resolve four tensions: Originality/value Although it is the group rather than an individual that determines what counts as knowledge, hardly any previous studies of knowledge management have collected data in a group context.
Social shaping of knowledge management
2001
With knowledge increasingly regarded as the most important asset for organizational success, knowledge management is gaining wider acceptance by many organizations. This paper takes a community perspective, emphasizing communities of practice and networks of practice . In this paper, we report on a case study with the information technology group at Texas A&M University and discuss how people (learning in the group) and an organization (learning by the group) actually learn. Finally, we discuss ways of utilizing information technology in communities and networks of practice.