Online help-seeking in communities of practice

Interactive online help systems are considered to be a fruitful supplement to traditional IT helpdesks, which are often overloaded. They often comprise user-generated FAQ collections playing the role of technology-based conceptual artifacts. Two main questions arise: how the conceptual artifacts should be used, and which factors influence their acceptance in a community of practice (CoP). Firstly, this paper offers a theoretical frame and a usage scenario for technology-based conceptual artifacts against the theoretical background of the academic help-seeking and CoP approach. Each of the two approaches is extensively covered by psychological and educational research literature, however their combination is not yet sufficiently investigated. Secondly, the paper proposes a research model explaining the acceptance of conceptual artifacts. The model includes users’ expectations towards the artifact, perceived social influence and users’ roles in the CoP as predictors of artifact use intention and actual usage. A correlational study conducted in an academic software users’ CoP and involving structural equations modeling validates the model, suggesting thus a research line that is worth further pursuing. For educational practice, the study suggests three ways of supporting knowledge sharing in CoPs, i.e. use of technology-based conceptual artifacts, roles and division of labor, and purposeful communication in CoPs

Learners’ continuance participation intention of collaborative group project in virtual learning environment: an extended TAM perspective

The aim of this study is to explore learners’ intention to return to the electronic environment through the use of wikipages. The survey is based on students’ participation in a collaborative group project over a one semester course on business information systems. A research model based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been proposed to investigate what factors will influence learners’ continuance participation in the electronic learning environment. 75% of students returned the questionnaire and the data analysis results based on the extended TAM Shows that the learners’ intention to return to the electronic learning environment was highly associated with their attitude towards the electronic learning tool and the affection associated with the tool

A Relational View of Individual Participation in Online Communities of Practice: An Integrative Literature Review

This paper reviews prior research on individual participation in online CoPs. In particular, the paper examines how the concept of CoPs has been applied in IS and what theories have been applied to study knowledge sharing behaviours in online CoPs. Given inconsistent empirical findings derived from prior IS studies, the paper drew on literature on relationship marketing to re-conceptualize participation in a CoP as a contractual relationship between a member and the online community that evolves through a number of transitions. A conceptual framework was then developed to revisit prior empirical findings in relation to key antecedents and outcomes of individuals’ knowledge sharing in online environments. Review results suggest that there is a need to examine how individual, online CoPs and contextual factors may jointly affect individual participation in online CoPs through different intermediate processes and how an online member-community relationship may be formed and/or developed by different relational mediators

Knowledge sharing by entrepreneurs in a virtual community of practice (VCoP)

PurposeThis paper examines how entrepreneurs engage in a Virtual Community of Practice (VCoP) to share knowledge. Intensity of engagement is taken as a proxy to measure the strength of knowledge sharing.Design/methodology/approachThe archival data spanning over a three-year period from ‘Start-up-Nation©’ (a VCoP purposefully setup for entrepreneurs) is used for analysis. A set of indices are introduced to measure participants’ intensity of engagement in terms of message length, message frequency and reciprocity in the knowledge sharing process. Content analysis is employed to test a sample of ‘highly engaged’, ‘moderately engaged’, ‘low engaged’ and ‘not engaged’ discussion topics as part of the on-line discourse.FindingsWe find that entrepreneurs normally use short (fewer than 100 words) or medium (fewer than 250 words) message size to contribute to the discussions. In addition, we find that senior members and discussion moderators play important roles in igniting the ‘reciprocity’ behaviour in stimulating the interest of the community with the topic discussion. We also findthat highly engaged topics usually lead to further discussion threads.Originality/valueThis is the first study of its kind to explore how entrepreneurs engage in a VCoP to share their knowledge and experiences. The set of measurement indices tested here provide a tool for the owner, designer and moderator of the VCoP to measure the utility of their website in terms of its members’ participation. In addition, the set of textual and subjective interventions identified here enable the moderator (administrator) of a VCoP to design effective interventions to facilitate on-line discourse and augment the knowledge sharing process amongst its community members

Examining the Factors Influencing Continued Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Knowledge Repository

Electronic knowledge repositories facilitate knowledge discovery and reuse by providing computer-mediated repositories for users to codify their expertise. However, why individuals volunteer to help strangers in these electronic networks is not well understood. There is no apparent benefit for the contributor and free-riders have same access to the public good as everyone else. Based on previous research positing that the interaction created by network participants produces an online public good of knowledge, the purpose of this paper is to investigate individuals’ intention to continue sharing knowledge in electronic knowledge repository. Drawing from social cognitive theory, and cognitive evaluation theory, we propose a theoretical model employing environmental factors such as feedback, rewards, and communication, and individual motivations such as perceived knowledge self-efficacy and self-esteem to explain person’s behavior (continuance intention) to contribute knowledge in the electronic knowledge repositories

Drivers Of Knowledge Contribution Quality And Quantity In Online Question And Answering Communities

A large portion of previous research on knowledge sharing in virtual community focuses on organization-sponsored professional virtual communities (PVC) while nowadays numerous nonwork- related virtual communities are gaining popularity. This study investigates the phenomenon of knowledge sharing in one popular type of non-work-related virtual community, online question and answering community. Anchoring on the self-determination theory, this study identifies three types of motivations to share knowledge in the community. Particularly, rewards in reputation system, which we further divide into rewards for quantity and for quality, are classified as extrinsic motivation; learning is classified as internalized extrinsic motivation and enjoy helping is classified as intrinsic motivation. Moreover, while previous studies tend to hold a monolithic view of knowledge contribution, this study regards quantity and quality as two important parts of knowledge contribution and argues there are different underlying mechanisms leading to them. Therefore we investigate the effects of the three motivations on quantity and quality separately. An online survey with 367 participants was conducted in a leading Chinese online question and answering community to test the research model. Results show that the motivational factors do have different effects on quality and quantity of knowledge contribution. While rewards in reputation systems for quantity can effectively enhance knowledge contribution quantity, rewards for quality do not lead to high quality knowledge contribution. Learning is revealed as a crucial motivational factor in this context as it is positively related with both aspects of knowledge contribution. Finally, enjoy helping is weakly related with knowledge contribution quality and strongly associated with knowledge contribution quantity. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed

Understanding the concept of individual level knowledge sharing: A review of critical success factors

This paper identifies key factors enabling individual knowledge sharing in organizations and on projects. A literature review on the topic of knowledge sharing has been conducted with an aim of recognizing relevant factors that influence individual knowledge sharing. We take a holistic approach in examining knowledge sharing by factors pertaining to Theory of planned behaviour, Social capital theory, Social influence theory, Social exchange theory, Social-cognitive theory, and motivational theories augmented with additional aspects. Factors belonging to organizational, team and individual contexts interact and, in turn affect knowledge sharing behaviour of individuals working in organizations and on projects. Relationships between various success factors were found relevant in influencing knowledge sharing and integration of theories in order to develop knowledge sharing model is recommended. Keywords: Knowledge sharing, Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge management, Tacit knowledg

Understanding the role of social situations on continuance participation intention in online communities: an empirical perspective

In recent years, the mushrooming development of Online Communities (OCs) has ushered a new paradigm of research for organizational sustainability in IS. In essence, the growth and survival of an online community relies predominantly on the continuous participation of its members. Given that the emergence of OCs may decay or even diminish due to the lack of consistent involvement of members, it is of paramount importance to fathom how to retain and entice members of OCs in terms of their continuous participation in the online platform. Extant studies have focused mostly on personal belief constructs and subjective norm constructs to study users' continuous behavior. However, the important role of social situations has not been sufficiently explored and investigated in IS, particularly in the emerging context of OCs. Drawing on the Triandis model, this study proposes a research model incorporating social situations as the moderator on the continuance participation intention in OCs. We collected data from two large OCs to examine whether congruence exists between situation perceptions and situation reactions. The empirical results show that social situations play an important role in determining the strength of the relationships between affect, social factors, and perceived consequences and the continuance intention in OCs

Investigating the interplay between social presence, motivation, and knowledge sharing behaviour in virtual learning environment

This study investigates the interplay between social presence, motivation, and knowledge sharing behaviour in the virtual learning environment. Sample for this research were 150 university students participated in online class sessions. A quantitative analysis was conducted by Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) with Partial Least Square (PLS) methods. The result showed that (1) there are positive effects between social presence on intrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing behaviour, (2) there is a positive effect between intrinsic motivation and knowledge sharing behaviour, (3) intrinsic motivation partially mediated the relationship between social presence and knowledge sharing behaviour, and (4) extrinsic motivation acts as predictor moderator on the relationship between social presence, intrinsic motivation, and knowledge sharing behaviour. These results implied the importance of students’ motivation and social presence perception to foster knowledge sharing in the mediated learning environment