USING WIKI AS A CORPORATE KNOWLEDGE SHARING SYSTEM

The business world is changing at a fast pace. The multinationals, the relocation of the production centers, the virtual integration trend of companies, the ubiquitous text, audio and video communication channels and devices, the overwhelming amounts of information, the power of the new consumer, are all signs of these changes. The economy is switching from a physical resources oriented, to an information and knowledge oriented one. The most important resource a company has becomes the human resource, the people of the organization, with the information and knowledge they possess and use to deal with the everyday challenges. Beginning with getting an insight into the concepts of information and knowledge, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the benefits of a Wiki as a collaborative knowledge sharing platform, able to harness the collective knowledge of a company in the highly competitive today’s knowledge economy.wiki; social networks; collaborative knowledge network; collective knowledge; web 2.0 technologies

Social Media and the Public Sector

{Excerpt} Social media is revolutionizing the way we live, learn, work, and play. Elements of the private sector have begun to thrive on opportunities to forge, build, and deepen relationships. Some are transforming their organizational structures and opening their corporate ecosystems in consequence. The public sector is a relative newcomer. It too can drive stakeholder involvement and satisfaction. Global conversations, especially among Generation Y, were born circa 2004. Beginning 1995 until then, the internet had hosted static, one-way websites. These were places to visit passively, retrieve information from, and perhaps post comments about by electronic mail. Sixteen years later, Web 2.0 enables many-to-many connections in numerous domains of interest and practice, powered by the increasing use of blogs, image and video sharing, mashups, podcasts, ratings, Really Simple Syndication, social bookmarking, tweets, widgets, and wikis, among others. Today, people expect the internet to be user-centric

Demographic Ageing and Employment in India

[Excerpt] This study by Irudaya Rajan brings to light the current and emerging issues concerning the implications of demographic change on the labour market in India. While population ageing is a major achievement of our times it presents major challenges for the world of work that need to be addressed. With 90 million persons over 60 years of age, India has the second largest population of older people in the world. Furthermore, between now and 2050 the Indian population over 60 years of age will almost quadruple. The low level of benefits and their limited coverage push large numbers of older people (particularly older women) to continue working in the informal economy. The combination of old-age, lack of access to decent work, poverty and exclusion is therefore of great concern. This India study discusses the main economic and labour market issues and implications related to population ageing in India, and presents an overview of current policy responses. Section 1 of the study describes the main current and future demographic trends. Section 2 analyses overall employment and labour market situation of the older persons. Section 3 focuses on the poverty incidence in the old age in urban and rural areas. Section 4 deals with the main challenges of the social security system and provides an overview of the current pension reform. Section 5 presents the two main national policies targeting older people in India. The final section puts forward main policy suggestions towards ensuring a secure and decent old age for the Indian population

Childhood vaccinations: A pilot study on knowledge, attitudes and vaccine hesitancy in pregnant women

Background. The objective of this pilot study was to test a questionnaire aimed at assessing knowledge of and attitudes towards vaccination, as well as intention to vaccinate, among pregnant women. Methods. The questionnaire was self-administered by 49 pregnant women attending antenatal classes at three Family Centers in Rome. Results. Poor knowledge of vaccinations, inadequate attention from healthcare professionals, recurrent consultation of unreliable sources of information, and misconceptions about the side effects of vaccines, all contribute to vaccine hesitancy. Where appropriate, questionnaire sections were shown to be internally consistent. Conclusion. The questionnaire proved reliable and is suitable for further studies

Digital exclusion: potential implications for social work education

QAA Subject Benchmark 5.9 requires social work students to demonstrate the ability to have a critical understanding of the social impact of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the 'digital divide'. In the twenty-first century, the implications of digital exclusion may become increasingly relevant for the social work profession with its values of empowerment and anti-oppressive practices. As governments and organisations move closer to the provision of online services, the social worker may find themselves addressing the disempowerment of service users and carers disconnected from a virtual welfare state. The concern is that Benchmark 5.9 does not go far enough, that the full significance of this requirement may not be sufficiently realised and a greater awareness urgently called for

New Prospects for Organizational Democracy? How the Joint Pursuit of Social and Financial Goals Challenges Traditional Organizational Designs

Some interesting exceptions notwithstanding, the traditional logic of economic efficiency has long favored hierarchical forms of organization and disfavored democracy in business. What does the balance of arguments look like, however, when values besides efficient revenue production are brought into the picture? The question is not hypothetical: In recent years, an ever increasing number of corporations have developed and adopted socially responsible behaviors, thereby hybridizing aspects of corporate businesses and social organizations. We argue that the joint pursuit of financial and social objectives warrants significant rethinking of organizational democracy’s merits compared both to hierarchy and to non-democratic alternatives to hierarchy. In making this argument, we draw on an extensive literature review to document the relative lack of substantive discussion of organizational democracy since 1960. And we draw lessons from political theory, suggesting that the success of political democracy in integrating diverse values offers some grounds for asserting parallel virtues in the business case

Enterprise 2.0: Collaboration and Knowledge Emergence as a Business Web Strategy Enabler

The Web is becoming in many respects a powerful tool for supporting business strategy as companies are quickly becoming more and more reliant on new Web-based technologies to capitalize on new business opportunities. However, this introduces additional managerial problems and risks that have to be taken into consideration, if they are not to be left behind. In this chapter we explore the Web’s present and future potential in relation to information sharing, knowledge management, innovation management, and the automation of cross-organizational business transactions. The suggested approach will provide entrepreneurs, managers, and IT leaders with guidance on how to adopt the latest Web 2.0-based technologies in their everyday work with a view to setting up a business Web strategy. Specifically, Enterprise 2.0 is presented as a key enabler for businesses to expand their ecosystems and partnerships. Enterprise 2.0 also acts as a catalyst for improving innovation processes and knowledge work