Social networks for knowledge management: the groups feature as a Personal Knowledge Management tool
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Social networks have the potential to support personal and organizational knowledge management. This study investigated how social network groups promote personal knowledge management activities like knowledge sharing. A survey found that social network groups allow knowledge conversion between tacit and explicit knowledge through discussion and feedback. They also build trust between members from different organizations worldwide. However, the study was limited by not directly measuring the organizational impact of knowledge gained from social networks. Future research could examine how learning on social networks transfers to organizations.
![References
Boyd, D.M. & Ellison, N. B. 2008. Social network sites: Definition, history and
scholarship, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210-230.
Gordeyeva, I. 2010. 'Enterprise 2.0: theoretical foundations of social media tools
influence on knowledge sharing practices in organizations”, Master's Thesis
submitted at University of Twente. Available at:
http://essay.utwente.nl/59921/1/MA_thesis_I_Gordeyeva.pdf [15 March 2017].
Hislop, D. (2013). Knowledge management in organisations: A critical
introduction. 3rd Ed. UK:Oxford University Press.
Omotayo, F.O., 2015. Knowledge Management as an important tool in
Organisational Management: A Review of Literature. Library Philosophy and
Practice, p.1.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/socialnetworksforknowledgemanagement-170718102145/85/Social-networks-for-knowledge-management-the-groups-feature-as-a-Personal-Knowledge-Management-tool-17-320.jpg)
Social networks for knowledge management: the groups feature as a Personal Knowledge Management tool
- 1. Social Networks for Knowledge Management: Group Features as Personal Knowledge Management Tools Cleopatra T Mushonga International Conference on Business and Management Dynamics (ICBMD-2017) Cape Town June 21, 2017 – June 23, 2017
- 2. Outline • Introduction • The Problem Statement • Research Questions and proposition • Theoretical lense and farmework • Methodology • Findings
- 3. Introduction The pervasiveness of social media has necessitated the discovery of the capabilities and full potential of social media. “Millions of people around the world have integrated social media communication with their way of life (Boyd and Ellison, 2008:210)” At the same time, knowledge management (KM) has also received much attention in the business sector. “knowledge management is a key driver of organisational performance and a critical tool for organisational survival, competitiveness and profitability.(Omotayo, 2015:1) Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is an aspect of KM that places emphasis on the individual and is considered by some scholars as the foundation of organizational knowledge management (Jain, 2000: Martin, 2006). “PKM represents the sub-domain of knowledge management that emphasizes the crucial importance of the individual in every knowledge process, proposing a model of knowledge management focused on the individual” (Razmerita, Kirchner and Sudzina, 2009: 1023). This study investigates the relationship between the social media group feature and personal knowledge management and how this in turn may influence knowledge management endeavours for an organization. A group is a community where individuals with similar interests, profession and expertise come together to share and exchange ideas within the social-network. It is a feature within the social- network that is different from the main wall or newsfeed.
- 4. Problem statement Generally Social networks are viewed as marketing and social tools (Han and Lee, 2012:1) as the term implies. However, some Knowledge Management theorists realise the potential for incorporating the collaborative and networking features of Social networks in Organizational Knowledge Management (Razmerita et al.,2009; Chui et al. ,2012). The consensus is that harnessing Social networks features for Knowledge Management is in its infancy and therefore its success in the social sphere is difficult to translate to the organizational context. Organizations neglect to realize the potential of using social media as part of their knowledge management practices. The existing problem is that the functionality of the groups on social media is not fully appreciated; many do not realize how this tool can be very useful for knowledge management.
- 5. Research questions and proposition This study sought to address the following main research questions: • How do social-networks groups promote personal knowledge management? • In which ways can knowledge sharing activities on social network groups contribute to organizational knowledge management? ; The proposition that was tested in this study was that; 1. Social network groups' users are involved in personal knowledge management through sharing and create their knowledge and experiences voluntarily because of trust relationships 2. Social network users harvest knowledge and insights from experts worldwide from the groups that they belong to and apply this knowledge. 3. Social network groups promote Personal Knowledge Management which in turn promotes Organizational Knowledge Management.
- 6. Theoretical lense-SECI Model of knowledge conversion (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1996)
- 7. Theoretical framework- PKM 2.0 (Cheong & Tsui, 2010)
- 8. Methodology
- 9. Methodology (continued) The empirical research thesis was based on quantitative survey in the form of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was in the form of an online survey using Google Drive Forms. The link for the survey was be posted on my LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+ profile and also five LinkedIn groups, three Google+, communities, three Facebook groups and two Facebook pages that I have received consent from. The questionnaire was also be emailed to my mailing list. The questionnaire prompted the respondent to reflect on their own use of social networks and whether or not they gain knowledge. The advantage of this questionnaire is that it is being answered by the user who has had practical experience with the social-network and therefore can provide insights into how they use it (Selltiz, Wrightsman and Cook, 1981:184). The bias is reduced as the questionnaire was completed mainly by members of social media groups whom I do not have a personal relationship with and also no incentive has been given for participation.
- 10. Methodology (continued) This study used statistical generalisation using non-probability theory since the sample population was widely dispersed and it was a cheaper and more feasible option (De Vaus, 2002:90). The sampling method chosen was convenience sampling where the conveniently available people, who met the study criteria who are available and willing to help, are used as a sample. This type of sampling on the internet is called unrestricted self-selected surveys which are open to the public to participate by choice (Oates, 2006:98).
- 12. The group feature of social networks The group feature is a community of practise that is formed on a social network. Its purpose is for the members to share their knowledge and experiences in order to develop each other’s competencies. Through the interactions on the group, that is posting, commenting, reading other people’s posts, individuals are involved in a process of personal knowledge management. They are involved in reconstructing their own mental models and therefore learning and creating new knowledge.
- 13. The survey/questionnaire Divided into themes based on PKM 2,0 an other literature reviewed for Sections A, B and C were grouped as follows: Motive/purpose- Analyses the motive or the reason for participating or joining the social network. Internalization/ Personal Knowledge Internalization (PKI- Demonstrate how the individual converts the explicit knowledge available on the social network to their own tacit knowledge that is, by reading and sometimes commenting to ask for clarification they are converting the shared information to become their own tacit knowledge. Externalization/ Inter-Personal Knowledge Transfer (IKT) - Demonstrate how individuals are converting their tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge and making it available on the groups they belong to. Activities such as posting and commenting are knowledge sharing activities where individuals are share their tacit knowledge making it explicit to other social network users. Community of Practise- Demonstrate that these groups on social networks are indeed communities of practice and how individuals benefit from belonging to the groups on the social network which provides a conducive environment to interact with diverse people who share similar interests (Hislop, 2013). Trust- Trust is an important factor for knowledge sharing (Gordeyeva, 2010:11). These questions show that group members in a social network trust each other and therefore share knowledge readily. Technological adoption- Demonstrate how individuals have accepted social media as a way of collaboration and how they use it for accessing and organising information.
- 14. Findings Different people of different age groups participate on the social networks. Different levels of qualification and hold different positions. There are various forms of participations on the social network which include scanning news feed, posting, reading post, reading comments and commenting. The respondents use their account for purposes other than socializing and job hunting. The study shows that trust relationships exist and are critical for knowledge sharing The study shows that reciprocity is a factor that influences knowledge sharing to a larger extent; there is therefore notable externalisation of knowledge that takes place on the social network groups. The study shows that social network groups stimulate collaboration and that they are useful in finding solutions to problems.
- 15. Activity Form of knowledge conversion PKM 2.0 concept Social network Groups’ feature ocialization Tacit-to-tacit Personal wisdom creation Creation of connections with similar interests & skills from different organizations and countries Participation in group discussions Observation by reading through posts and understanding the message in the post and learning from the comments Creative chaos where different comments and opinions and presented xternalization Tacit-to-explicit Inter-personal Knowledge Transferring The ability to comment freely The availability of different perspectives The availability of experts with experience allows for corrections to be given Combination Explicit-to- explicit Personal Information Management Sharing information by starting a post and receiving comments from other member Obtaining information from others and then using it in your own context nternalization Explicit-to-tacit Personal knowledge internalization Reflecting on information received and being able to use it when the need arises
- 16. Conclusion This paper is consistent with previous research that indeed, knowledge sharing exists among social-networks by providing evidence from the social network platforms. The paper highlights the importance of communities that are on the social networks in facilitating PKM. It shows that users find benefits from knowledge sharing processes on the groups on public social networks. This insight will encourage integration of public social-networks in organizational knowledge management.
- 17. References Boyd, D.M. & Ellison, N. B. 2008. Social network sites: Definition, history and scholarship, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13: 210-230. Gordeyeva, I. 2010. 'Enterprise 2.0: theoretical foundations of social media tools influence on knowledge sharing practices in organizations”, Master's Thesis submitted at University of Twente. Available at: http://essay.utwente.nl/59921/1/MA_thesis_I_Gordeyeva.pdf [15 March 2017]. Hislop, D. (2013). Knowledge management in organisations: A critical introduction. 3rd Ed. UK:Oxford University Press. Omotayo, F.O., 2015. Knowledge Management as an important tool in Organisational Management: A Review of Literature. Library Philosophy and Practice, p.1.
- 18. Limitations & Recomendations The limitation of this study is that it does not measure the actual organizational impact of the knowledge gained from the social network. It is highly limited to social networks that have a “Groups” feature Another limitation is the number of responses obtained which may not be truly representative as this was an attempt to determine patterns across various parts of the world. Future studies may focus on determining the impact of the learning that takes place on social networks in the organization through a case study. Future studies may also focus on big data analysis on the social networks for organizations to mine the knowledge direct from the social networks.