1 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Hazel Hall Senior Lecturer School of Computing Napier University, Edinburgh

1

Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange

Hazel Hall

Senior Lecturer

School of Computing

Napier University, Edinburgh

[email protected]

http://www.bim.napier.ac.uk/esis/about_us/hazel.html

2


Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing”

3


.

Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing” BUT...

I’m too busy to learn how

to submit content

(Why should I willingly give up my intellectual

property?)

(My knowledge is my power.)

I share my knowledge

in other ways.

I don’t have anything of

value to submit.

The material’s confidential.

This work is commercially

sensitive.

I’m too busy to create content.

My time is better spent generating

revenue.

4


Using an intranet for the purposes of knowledge sharing is a “good thing” BUT...

(What’s in it for me?)

5


Incentives for knowledge sharing

Rewards Conditions

Critical massSoft

Hard

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects

6



Rewards

Soft

Hard

Financial rewards

Career advancement/security as reward

Access to information and knowledge as reward

7



Rewards

Soft

Hard

Financial rewards



Increased payBonuses Stock options

LearningInnovation

PromotionFuture work

8



Rewards

Soft

Hard

Financial rewards



9



Rewards

Soft

Hard

Personal satisfaction as reward

Enhanced reputation as reward

10



Rewards

Soft

Hard


Enhanced reputation as reward GratitudeFlatteryRecognitionCross-hierarchy alliancesPositive results of altruism

11



Rewards

Soft

Hard


Enhanced reputation as reward

12



Rewards

Soft

Hard

Attitude of “W

hat’s in it for me?”

encourages temporary compliance

over-promotes self-interest

ruptures relationships

discourages risk taking

13



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities Time allocated

Senior management buy-in

Mentoring & assisting

Leadership by example

Training & debriefings

“Copying” permitted

Acquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge

14



Conditions

Communities

Status

ResponsibilitiesAcquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge

15



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities Time allocated

Senior management buy-in

Mentoring & assisting

Leadership by example

Training & debriefings

“Copying” permitted

Acquire knowledge Disseminate knowledge

Culture change imperative

16



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Relegate

All are contributors, experimentation is encouraged

Mask status

Remove management levels

17



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Relegate

Academic research on online interactions

Doctors v nurses

18



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Relegate

All are contributors, experimentation is encouraged

Mask status

Remove management levels

Works against soft reward of

enhanced reputation

19



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Provide for

Social interaction clique & high risk exchange

Shared commitment, obligation & co-dependence vitality & trust

Identity common purpose

20



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Provide for

Social events

Common languageframework

Space

21



Conditions

Communities

Status

Responsibilities

Provide for

Social interaction clique & high risk exchange

Shared commitment, obligation & co-dependence vitality & trust

Identity common purpose

Inhibited disseminationStro

ng versus weak ties

Can’t be “created”

Limits on membership

22



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects

Usefulness of use is obvious

Ease of use

23



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects


Ease of use

24



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects

Integration of tools with communities

25



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects


26



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objects



Ease of use

27



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability

Boundary objectsspaces and people

classification schemes

repositories

28



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability



repositories

Ease of knowledge sharingEqual statusCommunity ownershipExploitation of weak tiesTransfer from oldies to newbies

29



Critical mass

Infrastructure

Articulation

Usability



repositories

Ease of knowledge sharingEqual statusCommunity ownershipExploitation of weak tiesTransfer from oldies to newbies

Buy-in and investment is crucial

30



Rewards Conditions Infrastructure

To jump start knowledge sharing

For long-term compliance To help new members of staff

For distributed staff

For cross-team working

For wide dissemination

For “community” benefits

To encourage experimentation

To match “expectations” of personality types

To promote moral obligation

to knowledge as a public good

Move from knowledge as a private good

with appropriate support

31


Photograph courtesy of Philip Greenspun

http://philip.greenspun.com

Universallyapplicable

model?

32


Related workDavenport, E. & Hall, H. (2001). New knowledge and micro-level online

organization: 'communities of practice' as a development framework. In R. Sprague (Ed.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (CD ROM). Los Alamitos: IEEE.

Davenport E. & Hall, H. (2002 in press). Organizational knowledge and communities of practice. In B. Cronin & D, Shaw (Eds.). Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. Medford NJ: Information Today.

Hall, H. (2001). Input-friendliness: motivating knowledge sharing across intranets. Journal of Information Science 27(2), 139-146. [In Online 2001 conference proceedings]

Hall, H. (2001). Social exchange for knowledge exchange. Paper presented at the International Conference on Managing Knowledge, University of Leicester, April 10-11 2001. [http://www.bim.napier.ac.uk/esis/about_us/hazel_publications.html]

Documents

1 Devising intranet incentives: rewards and conditions for knowledge exchange Hazel Hall Senior Lecturer School of Computing Napier University, Edinburgh