1 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Hazel Hall Senior Lecturer School of Computing Napier University, Edinburgh

2 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing”

3 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange. Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing” BUT... I’m too busy to learn how to submit content (Why should I willingly give up my intellectual property?) (My knowledge is my power.) I share my knowledge in other ways. I don’t have anything of value to submit. The material’s confidential. This work is commercially sensitive. I’m too busy to create content. My time is better spent generating revenue.

4 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing” BUT... (What’s in it for me?)

5 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing RewardsConditions Critical mass Soft Hard Communities Status Responsibilities Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects

6 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Financial rewards Career advancement/security as reward Access to information and knowledge as reward

7 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Financial rewards Career advancement/security as reward Access to information and knowledge as reward Increased pay Bonuses Stock options Learning Innovation Promotion Future work

8 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Financial rewards Career advancement/security as reward Access to information and knowledge as reward

9 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Personal satisfaction as reward Enhanced reputation as reward

10 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Personal satisfaction as reward Enhanced reputation as rewardGratitude Flattery Recognition Cross-hierarchy alliances Positive results of altruism

11 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Personal satisfaction as reward Enhanced reputation as reward

12 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Rewards Soft Hard Attitude of “What’s in it for me?” O encourages temporary compliance O over-promotes self-interest O ruptures relationships O discourages risk taking

13 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Time allocated Senior management buy-in Mentoring & assisting Leadership by example Training & debriefings “Copying” permitted Acquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge

14 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Acquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge

15 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Time allocated Senior management buy-in Mentoring & assisting Leadership by example Training & debriefings “Copying” permitted Acquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge Culture change imperative

16 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Relegate All are contributors, experimentation is encouraged Mask status Remove management levels

17 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Relegate Academic research on online interactions Doctors v nurses

18 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Relegate All are contributors, experimentation is encouraged Mask status Remove management levels Works against soft reward of enhanced reputation

19 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Provide for Social interaction  clique & high risk exchange Shared commitment, obligation & co- dependence  vitality & trust Identity  common purpose

20 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Provide for Social events Common language framework Space

21 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Conditions Communities Status Responsibilities Provide for Social interaction  clique & high risk exchange Shared commitment, obligation & co- dependence  vitality & trust Identity  common purpose Inhibited dissemination Strong versus weak ties Can’t be “created” Limits on membership

22 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects Usefulness of use is obvious Ease of use

23 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects Usefulness of use is obvious Ease of use

24 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects Integration of tools with communities

25 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects Integration of tools with communities

26 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects Usefulness of use is obvious Integration of tools with communities Ease of use

27 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects spaces and people classification schemes repositories

28 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects spaces and people classification schemes repositories Ease of knowledge sharing Equal status Community ownership Exploitation of weak ties Transfer from oldies to newbies

29 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing Critical mass Infrastructure Articulation Usability Boundary objects spaces and people classification schemes repositories Ease of knowledge sharing Equal status Community ownership Exploitation of weak ties Transfer from oldies to newbies Buy-in and investment is crucial

30 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Incentives for knowledge sharing RewardsConditionsInfrastructure To jump start knowledge sharing For long-term complianceTo help new members of staff For distributed staff For cross-team working For wide dissemination For “community” benefits To encourage experimentation To match “expectations” of personality types To promote moral obligation to knowledge as a public good Move from knowledge as a private good with appropriate support

31 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Photograph courtesy of Philip Greenspun Universally applicable model?

32 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Related work Davenport, E. & Hall, H. (2001). New knowledge and micro-level online organization: 'communities of practice' as a development framework. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (CD ROM). Los Alamitos: IEEE. Davenport E. & Hall, H. (2002 in press). Organizational knowledge and communities of practice. In B. Cronin & D, Shaw (Eds.). Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. Medford NJ: Information Today. Hall, H. (2001). Input-friendliness: motivating knowledge sharing across intranets. Journal of Information Science 27(2), [In Online 2001 conference proceedings] Hall, H. (2001). Social exchange for knowledge exchange. Paper presented at the International Conference on Managing Knowledge, University of Leicester, April [