Abstract
The use of weblogs as an information and communication technology for knowledge sharing and creation is a novel social and organizational phenomenon. In this paper, we identify and explain contingency factors that influence the successful use of weblogs for knowledge sharing and creation. We start from the assumption that successful knowledge management requires the motivation of people to engage in knowledge-related communication. Based on a comparison of two antithetic cases, we identify and discuss four contingency factors that directly influence the motivational impact of weblogs on organizational knowledge sharing and creation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alavi M and Leidner DE (2001) Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly 25 (1), 107–136.
Amin A and Cohendet P (2000) Organisational learning and governance through embedded practices. Journal of Management and Governance 4 (1–2), 93–116.
Anakwe U, Igbaria M and Anandarajan M (2000) Management practices across cultures: role of support in technology usage. Journal of International Business Studies 31 (4), 653–666.
Ardichvili A, Page V and Wentling T (2003) Motivation and barriers to participation in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice. Journal of Knowledge Management 7 (1), 64–77.
Armbrecht FMR, Chapas RB, Chapelow CC, Farris GF, Friga PN, Hartz CA, McIlvaine EM, Postle SR and Whitwell GE (2001) Knowledge management in research and development. Research-Technology Management 44 (4), 28–49.
Bandura A (1995) Self-Efficacy in Changing Societies. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Bernard R (1996) The Corporate Intranet. Wiley, Chichester.
Boland R and Tenkasi R (1995) Perspective making and perspective taking in communities of knowing. Organization Science 6 (4), 350–372.
Boutellier R, Gassman O, Macho H and Roux M (1998) Management of dispersed product development teams: the role of information technologies. R&D Management 28 (1), 13–25.
Cabrera EF and Cabrera A (2002) Knowledge sharing dilemmas. Organization Studies 23 (5), 687–710.
Ciborra C and Patriotta G (1998) Groupware and teamwork in R and D: limits to learning and innovation. R&D Management 28 (1), 43–52.
Connolly T and Thorn B (1990) Discretionary databases: theory, data and implications. In Organizations and Communication Technology (FULK J and STEINFIELD C, Eds), pp 219–233, Sage, Newbury Park.
Constant D, Kiesler S and Sproull L (1994) What's mine is ours, or is it? A study of attitudes about information sharing. Information Systems Research 5 (4), 400–421.
Constant D, Sproull L and Kiesler S (1996) The kindness of strangers: the usefulness of electronic weak ties for technical advice. Organization Science 7 (2), 119–135.
Cook S and Brown J (1999) Bridging epistemologies: the generative dance between organizational knowledge and organizational knowing. Organization Science 10 (4), 381–400.
Dafermos G (2003) Blogging the market. How weblogs are turning corporate machines into real conversations. Working paper, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Daft RL, Lengel R and Trevino LK (1987) Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance: implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly 11 (3), 335–366.
Davenport TH (1997) Information Ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Davenport TH, Eccles RE and Prusak L (1992) Information politics. Sloan Management Review 34 (1), 53–65.
Davenport TH and Prusak L (1998) Working Knowledge. How Organizations Manage What They Know. Harvard Business School Press, Boston.
Deci EL (1975) Intrinsic Motivation. Plenum, New York.
Deci EL and Ryan RM (1985) Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Determination in Human Behaviour. Plenum, New York.
Diesing P (1972) Patterns of Discovery in the Social Sciences. Aldine, Chicago.
Eisenhardt KM (1989) Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review 14 (4), 532–550.
Ekeh PP (1974) Social Exchange Theory – The Two Traditions. Harvard University Press, Boston, MA.
Fulk J and DeSanctis G (1995) Electronic communication and changing organizational forms. Organization Science 6 (4), 337–349.
Garton LE and Wellman B (1993) Social impacts of electronic mail in organizations: a review of the research literature. [WWW document] https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/368/1/KMDI-HP-93-13.pdf (accessed 29 November 2006).
Gherardi S (2000) Practice-based theorizing on learning and knowing in the organization. Organization 7 (2), 211–223.
Gherardi S (2003) Knowing as desiring: mythic knowledge and the knowledge journey in communities of practitioners. Journal of Workplace Learning 15 (7–8), 352–358.
Gherardi S and Nicolini D (2000) To transfer is to transform: the circulation of safety knowledge. Organization 7 (2), 329–348.
Glaser BG and Strauss AL (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory. Strategies for Qualitative Research. Aldine Atherton, Chicago.
Goodhue DL and Thompson RL (1995) Task-technology fit and individual performance. MIS Quarterly 19 (2), 213–236.
Gouldner AW (1960) The norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. American Sociological Review 25 (2), 161–178.
Granovetter MS (1973) Strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology 78 (6), 1360–1380.
Grant RM (1996) Prospering in dynamically-competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science 7 (4), 375–387.
Hameri AP and Nihtilae J (1997) Distributed new product development project based on internet and world-wide web: a case study. Journal of Product Innovation Management 14 (2), 77–87.
Hansen MT, Nohria N and Tierney T (1999) What's your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review 77 (2), 106–116.
Herring SC, Scheidt LA, Wright E and Bonus S (2005) Weblogs as a bridging genre. Information Technology & People 18 (2), 142–171.
Hertel G, Niedner S and Herrmann S (2003) Motivation of software developers in open source projects: an internet-based survey of contributors to the Linux kernel. Research Policy 32 (7), 1159–1177.
Hiltz SR and Turoff M (1978) The Network Nation – Human Communication via Computer. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Jarvenpaa SL and Staples SD (2000) The use of collaborative electronic media for information sharing: an exploratory study of determinants. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 9 (1), 129–154.
Jian G and Jeffres LW (2006) ‘Understanding employees’ willingness to contribute to shared electronic databases. Communication Research 33 (4), 242–261.
Jones SG (1995) Understanding community in the information age. In CyberSociety: Computer-Mediated Communication and Community (JONES SG, Ed), pp 10–35, Sage, Thousand Oaks.
Kaiser S, Mueller-Seitz G, Lopes MP and Pina e Cunha M (2007) Weblog-technology as a trigger to elicit passion for knowledge. Organization 14 (3), 391–412.
Kimball L and Rheingold H (2000) How online social networks benefit organizations. [WWW document] http://www.rheingold.com/Associates/index.html (accessed 20 March 2008).
Kollock P (1999) The economics of online cooperation: gifts and public goods in the cyberspace. In Communities in Cyberspace (SMITH M and KOLLOCK P, Eds), pp 220–242, Routledge, London.
Kraemer KL, Danziger JN, Dunkle DE and King JL (1993) The usefulness of computer-based information to public managers. MIS Quarterly 17 (2), 129–148.
Lakhani KR and von Hippel E (2003) How open source software works: free user to user assistance. Research Policy 32 (6), 923–943.
Lakhani KR and Wolf RG (2005) Why hackers do what they do: understanding motivation and effort in free/open source software projects. In Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software (FELLER J, FITZGERALD B, HISSAM SA and LAKHANI KR, Eds), pp 3–22, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Lave J and Wenger E (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Lerner J and Tirole J (2001) The open source movement: key research questions. European Economic Review 45 (4–6), 819–826.
Lerner J and Tirole J (2002) Some simple economics of open source. Journal of Industrial Economics 50 (2), 197–234.
Lincoln Y and Guba E (1985) Naturalistic Inquiry. Sage, Beverly Hills.
Mackay W (1988) Diversity in the use of electronic mail: a preliminary inquiry. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems 6 (4), 380–397.
Malhotra A, Majchrzak A, Carman R and Lott V (2001) Radical innovation without collocation: a case study at Boeing-Rocketdyne. MIS Quarterly 25 (2), 229–249.
Markus LM and Keil M (1994) If we build it they will come: designing information systems that users want to use. Sloan Management Review 35 (4), 11–25.
McDermott R (1999) Why information technology inspired but cannot deliver knowledge management. California Management Review 41 (4), 103–117.
McLure Wasko M and Faraj S (2000) It is what one does: why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice. Journal of Strategic Information Systems 9 (2–3), 155–173.
McLure Wasko M and Faraj S (2005) Why should I share? Examining social capital and knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice. MIS Quarterly 29 (1), 35–57.
Microsoft (2005) Most valuable professional – letter from Lori, Sean and Anthony. [WWW document] http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/MVPINTRO (accessed 09 May 2005).
Nonaka I (1994) A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organization Science 5 (1), 14–37.
Ojala M (2005) Blogging – for knowledge sharing, management and dissemination. Business Information Review 22 (4), 269–276.
O’Mahony S (2003) Guarding the commons: how community managed software projects protect their work. Research Policy 32 (7), 1179–1198.
Oravec J (2004) The transparent knowledge worker: weblogs and reputation mechanisms in KM systems. International Journal of Technology Management 28 (7–8), 767–775.
Raub S and von Wittich D (2004) Implementing knowledge management: three strategies for effective CKOs. European Management Journal 22 (6), 714–724.
Rheingold H (1993) The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York.
Song M, Berends H, van der Bij H and Weggeman M (2007) The effect of IT and co-location on knowledge dissemination. Journal of Product Innovation Management (24), 52–68.
Spender J-C (1996) Making knowledge the basis of dynamic theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 17 (winter special issue), 45–62.
Sproull LS and Kiesler S (1998) Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
Straub D and Karahanna E (1998) Knowledge worker communications and recipient availability: toward a task closure explanation of media choice. Organization Science 9 (2), 160–175.
Strauss A (1987) Qualitative Analysis for Social Scientists. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Taylor SJ and Bogdan R (1984) Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods. Wiley, New York.
Thomke S (2006) Capturing the real value of innovation tools. Sloan Management Review 47 (2), 24–32.
van Lange PA, Liebrand WB, Messick DM and Wilke HA (1992) Introduction and literature review. In Social Dilemmas – Theoretical Issues and Research Findings (LIEBRAND WB, MESSICK DM and WILKE HA, Eds), pp 3–28, Pergamon Press, New York.
Venkatesh V, Morris MG, Davis GB and Davis FD (2003) User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly 27 (3), 425–478.
von Krogh G, Spaeth S and Lakhani KR (2003) Community, joining, and specialization in open source software innovation: a case study. Research Policy 32 (7), 1217–1241.
Weber S (2004) The Success of Open Source. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Weenig MW and Midden CJ (1991) Communication network influences on information diffusion and persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61 (5), 734–742.
Wellman B and Gulia M (1999) Virtual communities as communities – net surfers don’t ride alone. In Communities in Cyberspace (SMITH MA and KOLLOCK P, Eds), pp 169–193, Routledge, London.
Wellman B, Salaff J, Dimitrova D, Garton L, Gulia M and Haythornthwaite C (1996) Computer networks as social networks: collaborative work, telework, and virtual community. Annual Review of Sociology 22 (1), 213–238.
Wellman B, Quan-Haase A, Witte J and Hampton K (2001) Does the Internet increase, decrease, or supplement social capital? American Behavioral Scientist 45 (3), 436–455.
Wellman B and Wortley S (1990) Different strokes from different folks: community ties and social support. American Journal of Sociology 96 (3), 558–588.
Yin RK (1989) Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Sage, Newbury Park.
Zeitlyn D (2003) Gift economies in the development of open source software: anthropological reflections. Research Policy 32 (7), 1287–1291.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kaiser, S., Kansy, S., Mueller-Seitz, G. et al. Weblogs for organizational knowledge sharing and creation: a comparative case study. Knowl Manage Res Pract 7, 120–130 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2008.35
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2008.35