Creating a Knowledge-Sharing Community: If You Build It, Will They Come?

摘要

In their efforts to improve organizational effectiveness, many companies have used IT to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and best practices across organizational boundaries. Those organizations that have succeeded have found technology alone, despite its power and flexibility, rarely suffices. Instead, companies must use technol- ogy in close concert with a variety or organizational initiatives to create knowledge-sharing communities. In addition to appropriate technology, experts in knowledge management cite leadership, alignment with business priorities, supportive organizational policies and practices, and measurement of benefits as critical to a successful effort. In fact, the demonstrated importance of nontechnical factors has prompted the caution: "If you just build it, people probably will not come." But what of settings where we want to promote knowledge sharing, but have only limited ways to intervene on the organizational side? Can we use technology to seed the development of a knowledge-sharing community? If we build it, will they come? And if they come, will they use the technology to help one another in the ways we hope?