Knowledge And Relational Competences In Virtual Organisations

Purpose: The purpose is to identify the impact of knowledge and building relational competences on the process of creating virtual organizations (VOs).Methodology: The study included companies operating in Poland. The data was collected through personal interviews. A personal interview questionnaire was used as a research tool. The questions about the value of knowledge in VOs were constructed in a way that reflected the nature of VOs. The study was conducted in 2018.Findings: The study’s findings indicate that one of the main drivers of collaboration inside a VO is the desire to learn new things through learning with partners. The growth of human resources, the exchange of experience, and the learning of new knowledge are the three most significant advantages of collaboration in a VO, in addition to the financial gains. In the process of developing a VO, relational competences are built with the use of appropriate knowledge resources, which also have an impact on the effectiveness of collaboration. Reflection on shared learning occurs in a company’s future relationships with the environment. The competitive position is improved through expanded knowledge resources and improved relational competencies. The greatest enabling and restricting factors for the creation of VOs are knowledge and experience, respectively.Originality/value: The study’s empirical findings support the idea that having access to the right knowledge resources is essential for developing relational competences throughout the virtual organization of economic activity.Keywords: virtual organisation, knowledge, cooperation, relational competencesPaper type: Research paperCel: Celem jest próba zidentyfikowania wpływu wiedzy i budowania kompetencji relacyjnych na proces tworzenia VO. Metodologia: Badaniem objęto firmy działające w Polsce. Dane zostały zebrane w wywiadach osobistych, a narzędziem badawczym był kwestionariusz wywiadu osobistego. Pytania odnoszące się do znaczenia wiedzy w VO zostały zaprojektowane tak, aby odzwierciedlały naturę VO. Badanie przeprowadzono w 2018 roku. Wnioski: Wyniki badania pokazują, że zdobywanie nowej wiedzy poprzez uczenie się wśród partnerów jest jedną z wiodących motywacji do współpracy w ramach VO. Oprócz korzyści finansowych najważniejszymi zaletami współpracy w VO są: zdobywanie nowej wiedzy, wymiana doświadczeń oraz rozwój zasobów ludzkich. Odpowiednie zasoby wiedzy odgrywają decydującą rolę w budowaniu kompetencji relacyjnych w procesie tworzenia VO; wpływają również na efektywność współpracy. Uczenie się od siebie nawzajem znajduje odzwierciedlenie w przyszłych relacjach przedsiębiorstwa z otoczeniem. Zwiększone zasoby wiedzy i wzmocnione kompetencje relacyjne poprawiają pozycję konkurencyjną. Posiadanie wiedzy i doświadczenia jest najbardziej korzystnym czynnikiem przy tworzeniu VO, podczas gdy ich brak jest czynnikiem najbardziej ograniczającym. Oryginalność/wartość: Wyniki badania potwierdzają empirycznie, że odpowiednie zasoby wiedzy są kluczowym elementem budowania kompetencji relacyjnych w procesie wirtualnej organizacji działalności gospodarczej. Słowa kluczowe: organizacja wirtualna; wiedza; współpraca, kompetencje relacyjne Rodzaj papieru: Artykuł badawcz

Knowledge-Sharing and Potential Virtual Communities of Practice in the U.S. Coast Guard’s Afloat Community: A Qualitative Pilot Study

Virtual communities of Practice (VCoP) offer a flexible option for professional development that may be employed by geographically dispersed communities. Due to unique and dynamic operational demands and a reduced training budget, the United States Coast Guard’s (USCG) afloat community has limited opportunity for formal professional development, but alternative learning options have yet to be formally researched. This qualitative pilot study employed purposeful sampling to conduct 6 one-on-one interviews of afloat members with varying degrees of afloat experience and total time in service. The interviews were used to elucidate the knowledge-sharing culture of the afloat community, including the degree to which afloat members are willing to exchange knowledge and how trust, reciprocity, and disposition towards online learning influence this exchange. Interviews were digitally recorded and manually transcribed. Emergent themes included willingness and desire to share knowledge, concerns regarding service reputation, provisions for anonymity, and altruistic information exchange

Investigating Customer Knowledge Sharing in Online Brand Communities with a Meta-synthesis Approach

Today, the customer is considered the most important partner for the value-creation process in organizations. Companies and organizations have also turned to use social media and online communities in order to improve their efficiency, cost-effectiveness, or the quality of their customer operations. The purpose of the present study is to identify the factors affecting the sharing of customer knowledge in online brand communities with the meta-synthesis technique. In this research, using the systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis approach, the findings and results of studies from 2006 to 2022 are analyzed. To do this, the method of Sandelowski and Barroso (2006) has been used. In this research, after the initial search and refining of resources related to the subject of customer knowledge sharing in online communities, 76 sources were selected as final sources with the critical evaluation method. Then, using the qualitative method of document analysis using ATLAS.ti software, 7 dimensions and 74 components were identified as factors of customer knowledge sharing in online communities. The main dimensions identified are individual factors, social, motivational, technological factors, brand network relationship structure factors, brand-related factors, and knowledge-related factors. Managers and decision-makers of organizations and companies can adapt their company and organization to the competitive environment by understanding different aspects of online knowledge sharing.   Introduction The issue of knowledge sharing in online communities is widely important in various fields of education, human resource management, and marketing. Sharing customer knowledge leads to new product creation, existing product development, facilitating understanding of emerging market opportunities, and improving long-term customer relationships (Salim et al., 2022). In other words, the sharing of customer knowledge is important for both the organization and the customers themselves because in this way the companies will benefit from the business of the customers, and the development and improvement of the companies' activities will be provided (Sari et al., 2019). Therefore, identifying the factors that encourage and facilitate customer knowledge in online communities, especially online brand communities, is very important and the basis for the progress and excellence of companies. In this regard, in the present study, an attempt is made to identify and categorize the factors affecting customer knowledge sharing in online brand communities.   Methodology The current research is qualitative in nature based on practical purposes. The statistical population of the research is all the scientific research related to the research topic, the most relevant of which were selected using a meta-composite approach, which is a kind of systematic review. In order to achieve the coherence and integration of the results of studies related to the effective factors on the sharing of customer knowledge in online communities, in this research, the meta-synthesis method based on the seven-stage model of Sandelowski and Barroso (2006) was used. In this section, reliable sources and studies were reviewed in the field of customer knowledge sharing in online brand communities between 2006 and 2022. Findings In this research, after the initial search and refining of sources related to the subject of customer knowledge sharing in online communities, 76 sources were selected as final sources with the Critical Appraisal Skills Program and then with the qualitative method of document analysis using the ATLAS ti software. Seven main factors (categories) and 74 components were identified as factors of customer knowledge sharing in online communities. The main dimensions identified are individual factors, social, motivational, technological factors, brand network relationship structure factors, brand-related factors, and knowledge-related factors.    Conclusion As mentioned above, seven categories of factors were identified and categorized by using the meta-synthesis method. Individual factors are more focused on the personality aspects of customers and have been discussed in many studies. For example, according to Chang et al. (2013), extrovert people have a greater desire to share knowledge in online communities, or people's desire to help others and altruism have also been proposed in several studies as individual factors affecting knowledge sharing. The second identified factor is social factors. Social factors refer to the indicators based on which customers tend to meet their social needs and maintain their interaction with the society through sharing knowledge in online communities. As an example, indicators such as the feeling of belonging to the community or seeking social support have been confirmed in various studies such as Sari et al. (2019) and Degbey and Pelto (2021). Motivational factors also play an important role in customer participation in knowledge sharing. Among the sub-characteristics of this category of factors, hedonistic, emotional and social benefits, and incentive mechanisms are mentioned more than others in studies such as Munjal et al. (2019). The fourth group of factors affecting customer knowledge sharing is technological factors that mostly refer to technical aspects and platforms that provide access to the company's online space for customers. In this category, factors such as privacy (Arief et al., 2018), ease of use (Baima et al., 2022), and platform design (Li & Cox, 2021) can be seen, which show the importance of choosing a platform and its design for companies. Brand-related factors constitute the fifth group of factors affecting customer knowledge sharing in online communities. These factors are directly related to the characteristics and coordinates of the brand. In other words, if a company is able to act successfully in the way of branding and features such as brand trust (Dessart et al., 2015), brand satisfaction (Salim et al., 2020), and brand loyalty (li et al., 2022) can hope for success in sharing customer knowledge in online communities. Brand network relationship structure factors are the sixth group of factors affecting customer knowledge sharing, which emphasize the important role of communication factors. These factors have been mentioned in the studies of Salim et al. (2022) and Elsharnouby (2021). The last and seventh group of factors affecting the sharing of customers' knowledge in online communities are knowledge-related factors that are more effective from the content aspect.