Knowledge Entrepreneurship: Institutionalising Wiki-based Knowledge-management Processes in Competitive and Hierarchical Organisations
Authors: Argyris, Young ‘Anna’; Ransbotham, Sam
Journal: Journal of Information Technology (2016)
DOI: 10.1057/jit.2016.11
<jats:p>Social media in general and wikis in particular offer unique opportunities for knowledge management. Despite widely publicised successes in public settings, wikis in businesses evince mixed results; enterprises struggle to apply wikis to institutionalise knowledge-management practices. We investigate the inherent tensions underlying knowledge-sharing in competitive and hierarchical organisations. Our application of the multi-level organisational learning framework demonstrates that, although wikis facilitate some important learning stages, other critical challenges remain. A unique blend of project leadership can facilitate the institutionalisation of wiki-based knowledge-management processes. To observe the leadership archetype, we use a longitudinal case study of wiki use within a division of NBC Universal. On the basis of our observations, we propose a new archetype of project leadership called Knowledge Entrepreneurship that integrates managerial skills, technology affordances, and critical factors in knowledge-management processes.</jats:p>