KNOWLEDGE SHARING THROUGH ONLINE COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF CHINESE AND AMERICAN EMPLOYEES FROM A FORTUNE 100 COMPANY

Wei Li
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Wei Li: Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 501 E. Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61820, USA

Chapter 11 in Knowledge Management:Competencies and Professionalism, 2008, pp 123-134 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate organizational members' cross-cultural knowledge sharing behavior through virtual communities of practice. Using content and activity analysis as the research method, this study examined Chinese and American employees' online knowledge sharing behavior within the ShareNet, a global knowledge sharing system adopted by Alpha, a Fortune 100 multinational corporation. The participants were 205 Chinese and 205 American ShareNet users. The participants' knowledge sharing behavior within the ShareNet was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in order to show not only how frequently they shared knowledge but also what they shared through communities of practice in the ShareNet. The study results show that on average Chinese users contributed knowledge less frequently than Americans but these two groups were similarly active in terms of consuming knowledge. The major content shared in the ShareNet included project-related documents and one-to-many type of question asking/answering. Implications from the study findings and some direction for future research are also provided.

Keywords: Knowledge Management; Knowledge Management Practices; Knowledge Sharing; Skills and Competencies; Professionalism; Organizational Memory; Knowledge Processes; Knowledge Management Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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