1. Knowledge management Module 5 knowledge sharing and COP
Dr Jiangang Fei AUSTRALIAN MARITIME COLLEGE

2. Focus questions How does knowledge flow within an organisation?
What are the roles of communities of practice in knowledge sharing?
What are the main problems or concerns associated with virtual communities of practice?
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3. Identifying knowledge flows
The social context of knowledge
Individual vs. group vs. organisation
Individual memory vs. organisational memory
Knowledge creation in interactions
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4. Identifying knowledge flows
Mapping
Organisational structure
Flat vs. vertical (or hierarchical)
Single vs. multi- sites operations
Domestic vs. multinational
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5. Identifying knowledge flows
Mapping (cont.)
Physical infrastructure: e.g. building (or office layout)
Virtual environment: e.g. intranet, blogs
Organisation: e.g. departmental relationship
Individual networking
Collective networking
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6. Identifying knowledge flows – a tool
Social Network Analysis
Mapping relationships and flows
Measuring relationships and flows
Identify patterns of interaction
Through questionnaire and interviews
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7. Communities of practice
Characteristics of COP
Mutual engagement (common interests, connection, and contribution)
Negotiation of a joint enterprise (purpose, above organisation)
Shared repertoire (common understanding: stories, jargon, theories etc.)
Reading 5.1
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8. Virtual community of practice
Communication takes place in cyberspace
Lack of physical proximity between sender and receiver
Useful for Geographically dispersed organisations
The need for information technology
Issues: lack of trust, lack of shared background knowledge and coordination
Solutions to above: video conferencing, and s
The role of social media
Readings 5.2 & 5.3
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9. Knowledge sharing: the obstacles
The notion that knowledge is property (ownership) – acknowledgement by maintaining the connection between the knowledge and the people
Knowledge as power – reward K sharing rather than for what people know
Uncertainty of the knowledge provider and recipient – through community building
Organisational culture
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10. Knowledge sharing: the good and the bad
Knowledge flows within an organisation (knowledge shared)
Knowledge in-flows (externally from other organisations) – knowledge acquisition
The bad:
Knowledge shared when it should not be (within an organisation) – the issue of level of access
Knowledge out-flows (externally to other organisations – knowledge leaking)
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11. Knowledge sharing: the good and the bad
Channels of unintentional inter-organisational knowledge flows
Personal network
COP
Implications to management
Policies on intellectual property, copyrights
Knowledge sharing, encourage or discourage???
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12. Review
Now return to the focus questions at the beginning of this module and consider whether you can answer them to your satisfaction.
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