WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT KMS

WEB 2.0 TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT KMS

Knowledge consists of different types, such as know what, know how, know why

and know who. (MA Chatti et al, 2007)

Know What- Know information about the problems they face.

Know How - Through web2.0 technologies like wiki’s and blogs.

Know Why- To gain competitive edge and customer satisfaction.

Know Who- All the employees of an organisation.

Use of Technology for Knowledge Sharing: (Web 2.0)

In any organisation, knowledge sharing plays a key role in the whole development of the organisation. We see that knowledge should be shared and maintained for any organisations overall development. Through proper knowledge sharing we gain competitive edge and customer satisfaction which keeps us in business. So, to help our employees share knowledge they have, we are introducing wiki and blogging to our organisation so that both codification and personalisation strategies can be implemented. These are one of the best platforms to share knowledge and are cheap compared to other technologies.

Technology for knowledge sharing can be explained clearly with a example and some specific problems in that organisation. Let me introduce to you Albion Fabrics for which I with my team have designed a KMS and supported it with the help of Web 2.0 technologies.

Albion is a fabric company whose clients are supermarket chains and they outsource their projects to industries in other countries where the goods can be made cheaper. The problem is Albion’s staff doesn’t have enough knowledge about the industries they work with so it takes a lot of time and the decision taken cannot be judged properly. For this we designed a KMS and supported it with Web 2.0 technologies. We used Wiki’s, blogging to reduce this specific problem.

Use of Wiki:

A wiki is a website where information and knowledge can be stored and every user can contribute to it. Albion’s wiki is only made available for the staff in the intranet where every person of the staff can share their knowledge and experience with particular industries. Wiki works as a repository in our organisation. Each group or individual staff will contribute to the wiki and constant monitoring and moderation will be present to check if the information provided is true or not. We also keep a track record of the all the industries and experiences with each and this information will be available on the wiki. We use wiki as a tool for collaborative environment to make good use of the knowledge we have and form a virtual CoP.

This is effective because it helps the process of codification strategy and wiki is easy to access and with a search engine in it, it helps employees to access information and gain knowledge easily which in turn reduces time for making decisions. But there are some problems with wiki such as anyone using it can upload information which may be untrue sometimes. But this causes a huge problem to the organisation. So here comes the process called “Darwikinism” where unfit sections are culled, edited or replaced which results in high quality wiki. So, a wiki is a simple and user-friendly platform where employees share their knowledge and make it explicit. (www.biomedcentral.com)

This method of sharing knowledge is effective because there is a wide scope for learning, past mistakes won’t be repeated, also works as a centralised organisational unit for organisational learning. FAQ’s can be answered readily and makes knowledge transfer easy.

Google is an example of organisation that use wiki’s and blogs for knowledge sharing. There is a strong sharing culture at Google since the very beginning. Google’s intranet is made of numerous different tools but it is articulated around a big wiki. All employees are pushed to share freely and to learn from each other (the opposite of the company’s interaction with the outside world), no isolated team (no silo), and open communication is the rule. The company tries to hire smart people who are nice to work with, with an open mind suitable with the sharing practices. “Everybody from engineering to sales to folks who sweep the floors can read about and create commentary on anything in database. This is one of the issues that made Google a pioneer in its field of work.

Use of Blogs:

Blogging, a web2.0 technology has become very popular these days. We in our organisation encourage every member of the staff to have their own blog and publish posts about their experiences with a particular industry and its work behaviour regularly so that every employee goes through it, post comments and share their tacit knowledge.

Knowledge workers use blogs to capture and use information, to document individual thoughts, to reflect and to convey with others. This way, some of their tacit knowledge becomes explicit. This way of knowledge sharing is effective because it involves less money and effort. It also helps increasing the communication between individuals and there by resulting a friendly work environment.

In Albion, we think that using wiki’s and blogs give our company and our employees a specific edge that we are currently looking for and also solve our problems like problems regarding the industries . Apart from this using web2.0 also helps solving some of our knowledge management problems with training, staff turnover, thereby creating a friendly work environment with a free flow of knowledge.

Let me make it clear to you by giving a example. Our organisation got a order from Marks and Spencer to get them 10000 pieces of cotton shirts with different designs. The team associated to Marks and Spencer started looking at different industries in India which manufacture good quality cotton shirts. The team looks at other aspects as well such as specifications given by the designer and the capability of the industry to manufacture such kind of shirts. To get all this information, it takes so much time for the team to decide for any particular industry. Now, with the wiki’s having records of every industry it will be easy for them to find the particular industry they are looking for. To know much about the industry and the problem they may face there, the team looks at blogs of other employees who wrote about their experiences with the chosen industry. This way Blogs and Wiki helps the employees and eventually the organisation for knowledge sharing.

References:

MA Chatti, M Jarke, D Frosch-Wilke ; 2007, International Journal of knowledge and Learning

Maged N Kamel Boulos, Inocencio Maramba, Steve Wheeler; 2006, Retrieved on 11 march 2009 from www.biomedcentral.com

Michel Buffa; 2006, Intranet Wikis, Retrieved on 23 march 2009 from www-sop.inria.fr