Lecture 6: knowledge management

Question 1

Why knowledge management? (KM)

Answer 1

1. Information economy
2. Knowledge management is a serious issue

Question 2

What do we mean with ‘information economy’?

Answer 2

• Knowledge (as a human asset) is now the most important production factor
• Most values companies are knowledge organizations (e.g., Apple, banks, insurance companies)

Question 3

Why is knowledge management a serious issue?

Answer 3

• Organizations face more andmore knowledge related issues
• Increasing need to work together globally
• More and more information needsto be processed
• Working together beyondorganizational boundaries…
• In multiple teams…
• Less face-to-face

Question 4

What are the 2 types of knowledge?

Answer 4

1. Explicit knowledge
2. Implicit knowledge

Question 5

What is explicit knowledge?

Answer 5

• Knowledge that can be codified, stored, and easily transmitted
• Simple knowledge (i.e., information) which can be stored in databases and manuals

Question 6

What is implicit knowledge? (tacit knowledge)

Answer 6

• Knowledge based on experience, collaboration, commitment & competence
• Made up of mental models, values, beliefs, perceptions, …
• Difficult to store & transfer
• Requires no information storing (e.g., databases) but communication and collaboration

Question 7

What are the challenges of KM in modern organizations?

Answer 7

1. Sharing explicit knowledge
   - Task-related information
   - planning
2. Making implicit knowledge explicit
   - Who knows what
   - Expertise
3. Managing implicit knowledge
   - Shared mental model
   - Values & beliefs
4. Managing the social process
   - Attitudes towards sharing
   - Common bond / common identity

Question 8

What are the challenges of KM in modern organizations because of ‘networked individualism’?

Answer 8

• Lack of stadarization (weak ties)
• Decentralized information sources (Less place-time bound)
• Knowledge heavily dependent on individual (More and more person-to-person)
• Specialized (difficult capturing)
• Rapid switching

Question 9

What challenges knowledge sharing even more due to modern work life?

Answer 9

• Virtual teams
• Communities of Practice (CoPs)
• Networks of practice (NoPs)

Question 10

What is the definition of Communities of Practice (CoPs)?

Answer 10

(colocated) groups of people, working together on a shared practice

Question 11

What are the characteristics of Communities of Practice (CoPs)?

Answer 11

• Tightly knit group
• Shared practice and goal (work or social)
• Strong interpersonal ties
• Bond over identity
• (Typically work FtF)

Question 12

What are the characteristics of virtual teams?

Answer 12

• Not constrained to physical location
• Not constrained to specific time (asynchronous)
• Team members work on task separately
• Varying composition (different project teams, organizations)
• Always: Mediated by technology!

Question 13

What is the definition of Networks of practice (NoPs)?

Answer 13

geographically dispersed groups of people, sharing knowledge about common (local) practices

Question 14

What are the characteristics of Networks of practice (NoPs)?

Answer 14

• Loosely knit
• Shared practice, but goals may differ
• Weak interpersonal ties
• Identity over bond
• Typically work mediated

Question 15

What is the influence of social media affordances on knowledge management on creative performance?

Answer 15

• all affordances had a positive influence on knowledge acquisition & knowledge provision
• knowledge acquisition & knowledge provision had an positive influence on creative performance

Question 16

What are the three functions of technology in virtual teams?

Answer 16

1. Information processing
2. Process structuring
3. Communication support

Question 17

Explain the function ‘information processing’ in virtual teams…

Answer 17

• Conveyance of task-related information
• Decision making

Question 18

Explain the function ‘Process structuring’ in virtual teams…

Answer 18

Coordination of group process

Question 19

Explain the function ‘Communication support’ in virtual teams…

Answer 19

E.g., chat, discussion boards, email
Necessary to reach convergence

Question 20

How will newer technology influence virtual teams functions?

Answer 20

Newer technologies may enhance processes even more:
1. Information processing
- Expert systems
- AR/VR to share information
2. Process structuring
- Stimulating creativity (brainstorming, augmented senses)
3. Communication support
- AR/VR to stimulate social process
- Morphing
- Enhancement of nonverbal cues (e.g., pupil size)
- Extrasensory information (e.g., heartbeat)

Question 21

Where does social capital refers to?

Answer 21

Social capital refers to the benefits you derive from your social network

Question 22

In which terms is social network defined?

Answer 22

• Strong ties
• Weak ties

Question 23

What are the three types of social capital?

Answer 23

• Structural social capital
• Relational social capital
• Cognitive social capital

Question 24

What did the study of Zhang et al. (2020) found about social capital?

Answer 24

• structural, coginitive, and relational linkage all have a positive effect on knowledge transfer effectiveness
• Only structural linkage has a positive effect on absortive cappacity
• Knowledge transfer effectiveness had a positive effect on absortive capacity, which had a positive effet on organizational performance
• Social media use mediated structural and cognitive linkage on knowledge transfer effectiveness

Question 25

What is a common solution to enhance the social process

Answer 25

Common bond vs common identity

Question 26

What are the characteristics of common bond?

Answer 26

• Attachment through interpersonal bonds
• Personal information sharing (self-disclosure)
• Interpersonal similarity
• Interpersonal comparison
• Familiarity with members

Question 27

What are the characteristics of common identity?

Answer 27

• Identity-based attachment
• Group categorization
• Group information
• Homogeneity
• Intergroup competition
• Familiarity with group