A motivation and effort model for members of wireless communities

The aim of this paper is to develop an analytical framework and model for understanding motivation and effort among members of Community-based WLANs. Wireless communities represent a stimulating area for research due to their organizational uniqueness as loosely-knit communities of wireless enthusiasts who cooperate to set up and operate a wireless communications infrastructure; in other words, they represent an example of collective action. Thus, two research issues are critical in understanding the mechanics behind the sustained existence of wireless communities: motivation – why individuals become community members – and coordination – how individuals within a community interact with each other. Focusing on the first issue, the paper provides a theoretical explanation of motivation which, in turn, informs the design of a conceptual model. According to this explanation, an individual decides to participate in a wireless community because of intrinsic as well as extrinsic motives. These motives are balanced against the perceived effort to join and participate in the community to jointly determine a suitable participation level for each community member. The resulting model adopts a cost-benefit (utility) perspective that is being empirically tested through a large-scale questionnaire survey

The Effect of Expected Benefit and Perceived Cost on Employees’ Knowledge Sharing Behavior: a Study of It Employees in India

In the increasingly turbulent business environment knowledge is considered to be the most important source of sustainable competitive advantage and to sustain it, an organization must create, share, and utilize the knowledge it possesses.  The critical knowledge is only available to the organization as long as employees are willing to cooperate. It can easily be lost if the employees decide to explore other opportunities outside the organization or employees fear to share knowledge with co-workers.  To achieve continuous growth, organizations need to understand the factors which motivate and de-motivate the employees to share knowledge. The present study examines the impact of employees’ perception of perceived benefits and cost of knowledge sharing on their knowledge sharing behavior. Data were collected from 228 employees of two major Information Technology organizations in India. The results of regression analysis showed that benefits mainly perceived increase in expected association with others and expected contribution to organization positively influences employees’ knowledge sharing behaviour. Perceived cost was found to influence negatively on knowledge sharing behaviour. The findings of the study are expected to provide significant inputs to organizations to design the practices which make knowledge sharing an integral part of the day-to-day conversation.  &nbsp

An examination of early and late contributions at online contexts

User generated content is being recognized as part of the value proposition of e-commerce organizations. To make availablefresh content on topics with existing contributions and first-time content on topics with little or no existing content, one needsto understand why individuals contribute early or late. Drawing upon the cognitive model of helping, this study develops andtests three hypotheses based on a survey and archival data of 235 contributors of reviews at Amazon.com. Results of an SEManalysis using LISREL indicate that self-perceived competence is positively associated with early contributions whereas anindividual’s social adjustive motive toward others in general leads to late contributions. In contrast, people for whom thesocial adjustive motive toward specific others is salient are neither likely to contribute consistently early nor late. Thesefindings suggest ways for site administrators to ensure a balanced coverage across topics by addressing these individualfactors

On the Economic Nature of Medical Information: Implications for the Development of Information Infrastructures in the Healthcare Sector

IT adoption in the healthcare sector still lags behind expectations. The literature has extensively studied IT adoption in the healthcare sector as a problem of information infrastructure development. We extend that literature by adding a supply chain perspective which treats information infrastructures as assemblies of information components. This allows us to apply the theory of collective action to these individual components rather than to the information infrastructure as a whole, as is characteristic of the information infrastructure literature. We find that some information components have the character of common resource pool goods, which require specialized and local institutional arrangements to overcome the implied free-rider problem. This sheds a new light on the current problems of slow IT adoption in the healthcare sector

Interaction Processes in Collaborative Learning Networks: A Social Interdependence Perspective

Information systems and communication tools such as online discussions forums are increasingly replacing traditional instructor-led learning methods with collaborative learning networks. Collaborative learning networks emphasize the distributed nature of learning and community-based sharing of knowledge, where people connect and collectively contribute knowledge to a learning community. However, the value realized through collaborative learning depends on social interaction processes that take place among members of a learning network. The aim of this paper is to present our ongoing research on social interaction processes, their determinants, and their effects on individual and group learning performance. We investigate the role of different social interaction processes in collaborative learning networks, where students’ learning is derived from (instead of with) the learning community. As a result, we aim to offer theoretical insights into how collaborative learning networks enhance the learning outcomes of both the individual and group

Defining Knowledge Management System Risk

Knowledge Management Systems are becoming widely used in organizations. Early successes are encouraging but these systems entail their own set of challenges. This paper proposes a measure of risk exposure for knowledge management system use. Five undesirable outcomes and thirty two risk factors were identified. These elements were extracted from the literature and from cases, and validated using a Delphi exercise. This measure enables knowledge managers to assess the level of risk supported by their organization and to take the appropriate action to manage their risk exposure

The impact of project management skills on the performance of renewable energy projects

Project management skills are critical in ensuring the success of energy management project. Amongst project management skills, three were identified important in managing renewal energy projects. They were managing human resources, transformational leadership and knowledge sharing. These constructs were influential factors that capable of affecting energy project performance. Such impact could be by increasing motivation in projects’ employees. Previous studies recorded 11 variables that had been considered for those 3 project management skills constructs. Palm and oil mills projects had been selected for the data collection. Eighty-six (86) data from palm and oil mills located in Peninsular have been collected through questionnaire and respondents involved majority were the project managers. This study employed quantitative research design. Pearson Correlation Coefficient test was used to establish relationships between three project management constructs towards renewable energy project success. The results showed that all three constructs were significantly correlated with energy project performance. For HRM practices, the maximum impact was for training and the minimum impact was variable related to staffing. Among variables for transformational leadership, vision recorded the strongest relationship on energy project success. In addition, both variables for knowledge sharing have significant positive impact on energy project performance. It could be concluded that all three project management skills are important for palm and oils mill projects in improving energy project performance