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Nanyang Technological University

H6612 Information Management

Low Jiaxin (G1001098B)

Individual Assignment 1b
Assignment 1b
How can Wikis be used for collaboration and information or knowledge sharing in an
organisation?

1. Introduction
Companies and organizations face constant challenges to keep their employees and
members updated, as well as to encourage the sharing and transfer of information.
There are a number of ways in which Web 2.0 is defined, but the overarching idea is
that of participation and collective intelligence. Web 2.0 offer a channel for
organizations to communicate, collaborate, share and manage knowledge effectively
(Razmerita et al, 2009). Hence, the increasing usage of Web 2.0 tools and individuals’
familiarity with the concept, which stresses the spirit of community and team effort,
means that organizations now have readily-implemented, low cost method to
overcome these challenges.

2. Wikis
Wikis were developed in 1994 by Ward Cunningham. When used appropriately in an
organization of suitable culture (Payne, 2009) can break down barriers in information
sharing within the organization. Wikis are succinctly described by Altes (2009):

Wikis are web sites that use special software that allows for the creation and
editing of hyperlinked Web pages by multiple individuals. Wikis are used to
create websites, documentation, and for note-taking and other collaborations.

The ease of creating new content for various functions listed above, by individuals
with no programming knowledge, is one of the many pull factors that can convince
reluctant employees to contribute to the organization’s wiki. Organizations which
have adopted the usage of wiki often use it internally, as a private tool for employees
within the organization, as there is not much value for the public to contribute to an
organization’s wiki. In addition, the public might compromise the integrity of content
held in the wiki. On the other hand, other Web 2.0 tools like blogs and social
networking sites like Facebook may be better channels for the organization to share
information with and gather feedback from the public instead.
3. Using Wikis to achieve different goals in the organization
3.1 Collaboration
The main and most important feature of a wiki is that is allows users to contribute in a
number of ways, including editing an already created page and authoring new pages.
The ability to edit allows a team to collaborate on a page and constantly update the
page to reflect changes. The revisions are automatically saved so that other users may
monitor the changes made, and revert to an older version if necessary. This cuts down
on confusion over version numbers.

A wiki site may be created to facilitate project management, as the site itself is self-
contained. Pages may be created for different functions such as administrative
matters, timeline of the project, assignment of various tasks, updates on progress,
documents being drafted, etc.

Furthermore, employees who may otherwise not have a voice in the organization may
be encouraged by the social structure of wikis to contribute (Payne, 2009). A basic
assumption for wiki sites is that everyone is knowledgeable; therefore all
contributions are valued, independent of the contributor’s position within the
organization’s hierarchy.

3.2 Communicate
Wikis can be used for communication within the organization. Updates to the shared
calendar can be made on the wiki, accessed by all employees. For some people, this
method of communication is preferred to email updates, as the information is
available on the wiki for access at one’s leisure and not pushed to the email inbox
(Tay, 2009). Conversely, the information can be accessed quickly if needed urgently
and employees do not need to search through their email to retrieve it. This way, the
wiki acts as a common bulletin board where users neatly tack on pieces of
information, whereas email messages are akin to loose pieces of memos being sent,
often more than once in different drafts, around cyberspace.

3.3 Share and manage information


Wiki allows employees to contribute their knowledge easily, and to organize the
information in the most efficient manner using a network of links between different
pages. Trkman and Trkman (2009) discuss the use of wiki as an intranet and state that
the wiki concept “enables the distribution of work and a focus on the particular skills
of individuals”. This distribution is similar to a company intranet where individual
employees may be responsible for the maintenance of different areas – creation of
content, updating content, correcting errors, etc.

Use of hyperlinks within each page of the wiki site also allows employees to visualize
or conceptualize the information within its context, instead of a top-down way of
looking at the information. This way of managing information offers employees a
more intuitive grasp of the content, according to their understanding, instead of using
already established ways which may be irrelevant or outdated.

4. Considerations in using Wiki


Web 2.0 and the wiki in particular will be adopted by organizations as they seek out
more efficient methods of managing information. However, for the wiki to be truly
effective, there are many considerations posed in available literature.

Trkman and Trkman (2009) raise the issue of quality in terms of information, system
and service. Quality of information must be ensured. The nature of wiki is such that
any member within the organization is able to tack on information to the page, but
with time, the presentation of information may become so haphazard as to deter others
from using the wiki, despite the factual content being useful. Quality of information
also refers to the factual content itself – which must be accurate so that the wiki can
be trusted. Therefore, employees must be adequately trained to use the wiki
effectively.

Another consideration to be taken account is acknowledgment of contributors


(Paroutis & Saleh, 2009). Employees may be discouraged from adding new content if
they are not recognized or even rewarded for contributing to the wiki. They may also
be concerned about intellectual property rights over the information shared once it is
made available on the wiki. Further, the organization has to ensure that certain data
which may be classified or sensitive are secure, and access is limited to those
employees that have security clearance, by using passwords or other means of
authentication (Tay, 2009).
Much of the literature mentions that support of the management is required when
implementing a tool such as wiki. Payne (2008) talks about the need for organizations
to create “conditions that encourage collaboration – an environment of trust, self-
management, behavioral protocols, shared intent and equitable sharing of returns”.
Organizations must have information policies in place that allow such conditions of
trust and order. For example, there may be written rules on conduct on acceptable
language, and further measures put in place to ensure a high quality of information
provided in the wiki pages.

Another challenge in using wikis is its promotion. As much of Web 2.0 depends on

5. Conclusion
Wikis are a highly effective way to harness the power of collective intelligence.
However, before adopting this Web 2.0 tool, organizations have to consider their
approach to a few issues first and customize the wiki to fit their own information
needs.

6. References

Altes, Karen. (2009). Social media. Journal of Property Management, 74(5), 44-47.
Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1870061451&sid=
1&Fmt=2&clientId=15653&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Levy, Moria . (2009). Web 2.0 implications on knowledge management. Journal of


Knowledge Management, 13(1), 120-134. doi: 10.1108/13673270910931215

Paroutis, Sotirios, & Saleh, Alya Al. (2009). Determinants of knowledge sharing
using web 2.0 technologies. Journal of Knowledge Management, 13(4), 52-
63. doi: 10.1108/13673270910971824

Payne, Judy. (2008). Using wikis and blogs to improve collaboration and knowledge
sharing. Strategic HR Review. 7(3), 5-12. doi: 10.1108/14754390810865757

Razmerita, Liana, Kirchner, Kathrin & Sudzina, Frantisek . (2009). Personal


knowledge management: the role of web 2.0 tools for managing knowledge at
individual and organisational levels. Online Information Review, 33(6), 1021-
1039. doi: 10.1108/14684520911010981

Tay, Grace Pei Lyn. (2009). Wikis as a knowledge management tool. Journal of
Knowledge Management, 13(4), 64-74. doi: 10.1108/13673270910971833
Trkman, Marina & Trkman, Peter. (2009). A wiki as intranet: a critical analysis using
the Delone and McLean model. Online Information Review, 33(6), 1087-1102.
doi: 10.1108/14684520911011025

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