Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories

With the prevalent use of virtual Communities of Practice (CoPs) in organizations to link networks of individuals located in disparate geographical areas, information communication technologies (ICTs) take on a crucial role in supporting CoPs. In this paper, I examine the role that ICTs play in supp...

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Main Author: Boh, Wai Fong
Other Authors: Nanyang Business School
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2014
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/79551
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/24202
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-795512023-05-19T06:44:42Z Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories Boh, Wai Fong Nanyang Business School DRNTU::Business::Information technology With the prevalent use of virtual Communities of Practice (CoPs) in organizations to link networks of individuals located in disparate geographical areas, information communication technologies (ICTs) take on a crucial role in supporting CoPs. In this paper, I examine the role that ICTs play in supporting knowledge sharing in virtual CoPs. In particular, I examine the use of two key types of ICTs -- knowledge repositories and online discussion forums. Based on the perceived cost of using these two types of ICTs, I theorize about how various factors would differ in their influence on knowledge sourcing from knowledge repositories and from online discussion forums. Two event-driven surveys were conducted with members of a CoP in a consulting firm to test the hypotheses. The surveys were conducted when CoP members downloaded documents from the knowledge repository and when CoP members posted inquiries and received responses in an online discussion forum. The results of the event-driven surveys partially support the hypotheses and show the importance of understanding the perceived costs of using the ICT to support knowledge reuse when we study knowledge sharing in virtual CoPs and in other settings that depend significantly on technological tools for knowledge sharing. Accepted version 2014-11-10T02:44:45Z 2019-12-06T13:28:06Z 2014-11-10T02:44:45Z 2019-12-06T13:28:06Z 2014 2014 Journal Article Boh, W. F. (2014). Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories. ACM SIGMIS Database, 45(2), 8-31. 0095-0033 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/79551 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/24202 10.1145/2621906.2621908 en ACM SIGMIS Database © 2014 ACM. This is the author created version of a work that has been peer reviewed and accepted for publication by ACM SIGMIS Database, ACM. It incorporates referee’s comments but changes resulting from the publishing process, such as copyediting, structural formatting, may not be reflected in this document. The published version is available at: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2621906.2621908]. application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic DRNTU::Business::Information technology
spellingShingle DRNTU::Business::Information technology
Boh, Wai Fong
Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
description With the prevalent use of virtual Communities of Practice (CoPs) in organizations to link networks of individuals located in disparate geographical areas, information communication technologies (ICTs) take on a crucial role in supporting CoPs. In this paper, I examine the role that ICTs play in supporting knowledge sharing in virtual CoPs. In particular, I examine the use of two key types of ICTs -- knowledge repositories and online discussion forums. Based on the perceived cost of using these two types of ICTs, I theorize about how various factors would differ in their influence on knowledge sourcing from knowledge repositories and from online discussion forums. Two event-driven surveys were conducted with members of a CoP in a consulting firm to test the hypotheses. The surveys were conducted when CoP members downloaded documents from the knowledge repository and when CoP members posted inquiries and received responses in an online discussion forum. The results of the event-driven surveys partially support the hypotheses and show the importance of understanding the perceived costs of using the ICT to support knowledge reuse when we study knowledge sharing in virtual CoPs and in other settings that depend significantly on technological tools for knowledge sharing.
author2 Nanyang Business School
author_facet Nanyang Business School
Boh, Wai Fong
format Article
author Boh, Wai Fong
author_sort Boh, Wai Fong
title Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
title_short Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
title_full Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
title_fullStr Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
title_full_unstemmed Knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
title_sort knowledge sharing in communities of practice : examining usefulness of knowledge from discussion forums versus repositories
publishDate 2014
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/79551
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/24202
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