Individual Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Organizations

Knowledge management is one of the most important research streams in IS research since knowledge is being seen as a vital and significant strategic organizational resource that can influence the competitive advantages of the organization. Organizations have been trying to understand how knowledge is created, shared, and used within the organization as they need to capitalize on the knowledge they possess. Knowledge exists and is shared at different levels (individual, group, and organization level) in organizations. This paper reviews existing literature in this area and presents a framework that identifies factors that most significantly influence knowledge sharing between individuals in organizations

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

Mobile Money Affordances: Enabling the Way for Financial Inclusion

This study explores how mobile technology provides an effective means of increasing financial access and bringing socioeconomic benefits to the country. We examine the potentials of mobile money in increasing financial inclusion in the developing countries at the macro (ecosystem) level using the case of Wave Money FinTech in Myanmar. We adopt Pozzi’s affordance actualization framework and use multiple data collection methods to explain the key mechanisms by which different stakeholders perceive and actualize mobile-money affordances. The findings demonstrated that realization of technology affordance was different from different user group due to different intention of technology use in the specific context, however it contributed to the ultimate outcome of financial inclusion. We hope that this research provides academia and practitioners with new insights into unlocking the revolutionary potential of mobile technologies in the developing world. Keywords: Technology Adoption, Mobile-Money Affordances, Financial Inclusion, Developing Countries, Case Study Researc

Exploring Social Media Affordances in Natural Disaster: Case Study of 2015 Myanmar Flood

Consumers’ willingness to disclose and allow electronic storage of their personal health information (PHI) is critical to the successful digitization of healthcare. However, concern about privacy and potentially negative consequences of privacy loss (e.g., loss of jobs) can discourage PHI disclosure by consumers. It is thus imperative to identify and address key roadblocks from the perspective of consumers that may impede the progress of developing countries in digitizing healthcare. Toward this end, this research-in-progress integrates the privacy calculus model with procedural justice to investigate the willingness of individuals in developing countries to disclose PHI in order to receive care in contexts where the disclosed PHI is stored and used electronically. A comprehensive model is proposed to explain the determinants of consumer PHI privacy concerns and willingness to disclose PHI. We will test the proposed model using the survey method. Several theoretical contributions expected from the study are provided

Examining the Factors Influencing Continued Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Knowledge Repository

ABSTRACT 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

Enabling Zarti-inspired Crisis Response in a Flooding Disaster in Myanmar

Information and communication technologies afford users with unprecedented opportunities to respond to societal challenges. This study examines the emerging use of social media in complex social phenomenon, natural disasters. We adopt a Myanmar culture, called Zarti as a national spirit, as our theoretical lens to explore how this indigenous culture influences the experiences of local communities and enables crisis response in Myanmar. By presenting a case study of Myanmar floods in 2015, we identify nine core elements of Zarti culture at the individual, interpersonal, and organizational levels, namely—identity, self-reliance, generosity, empathy, Parahita, altruism, trust, solidarity and political influence—as instrumental in enabling how community members perceive and enact social media affordances in crisis response and achieve relevant social outcomes. We identify four affordances as they have emerged in relation to the underlying material properties of social media (i.e. Facebook) and user characteristics (in terms of user roles, user goals, and cultural values), in the context of disaster response. At the individual level, our data reveals that the possession of Zarti values of identity and self-reliance was instrumental in enabling information creation, gathering, and dissemination on Facebook that affords different ways of creating crisis-awareness. At the interpersonal level, our analysis finds that the embracement of Zarti values of Parahita and trust played a central role in uniting volunteers with a shared interest to engage in relief efforts through Facebook that affords relief coordination. Similarly, our evidence shows that Zarti’s emphasis on altruism of group members was crucial in enabling efficient communication on Facebook that affords volunteer mobilization. At the organizational level, our case demonstrates that upholding the Zarti values of solidarity and political influence was essential in gathering and organizing talented people with similar aspirations on social media for collaboration that affords crowdsourcing, in producing optimal solutions. In general, social media created new possibilities for expressing and reflecting indigenous values amongst members of the community and thus enabled new ways for Zarti-inspired crisis response. In particular, influenced by the values stemming from Myanmar Zarti culture, social media-enabled crisis response was successfully realized in Myanmar. People benefited substantially from social media use in terms of information access, effective communication and collaborations during a flood disaster. We present two contributions of our study. We contribute to the small number of extant studies of ICTs and societal challenges (Majchrzak et al. 2012) in the contemporary context of Myanmar. We offer a novel explanation of how Zarti culture facilitates crisis response activities involving individuals, groups, and organizations as local communities during the 2015 Myanmar floods. The concept of Zarti culture sheds light on how indigenous values can become intertwined with the capabilities of social media and highlights the need for indigenous perspectives (Davidson and Andrade 2018) to crisis response to advance our understanding of the diversity of digital phenomena, such as social media-enabled social movement, across cultural contexts

Developing a Conceptual Model for Project Knowledge Management

Every project aims to succeed however research shows that only few IT projects are accomplished with targeted cost, schedule and required specification. There have been calls for improved performance in IT projects in industry studies and government reports. IT project performance is a critical organizational issue because it depends on information systems and increasing costs of delivering such projects. The essence of professional project management is that project success lies in the ability to continually enhance the underlying knowledge-base, i.e. the learning capacity. Thus, knowledge-sharing, where individuals involved in the project transfer their learning to others, is vital in this process of learning. This study uses qualitative approach through multiple in-depth case studies selected from Singapore InfoCom Company (StarHub) to understand how individuals would be motivated to share knowledge in IT projects. We develop a conceptual model that explains how knowledge management influences project learning and performance in IT projects. Keywords Project management, knowledge management, project success, knowledge sharing, project learning, project performance, IT project

Developing a Framework for User Participation in Information System Development Projects

While project management has become one of the more popular organizational disciplines over the last few decades, ironically, project success statistics suggest that most projects still fail, and thus do not accomplish their business objectives. This therefore presents a unique opportunity to study this phenomenon to improve success rates in this discipline. As projects are complex, multi-dimensional phenomena, it can be examined from various perspectives. In this study, the phenomenon of IT project success is examined from the user perspective by developing a theoretical framework that investigates the role of user participation and involvement in determining ISD project success. Keywords Project management, Information System Development (ISD), user participation, project success, participative decision making, theoretical framewor

Exploring the Role of ICTs in Addressing Societal Challenges in Developing Countries: An Affordance Perspective

This research aims to contribute rich, empirically informed insights into the emerging phenomenon of ‘ICTs and societal challenges’ in the developing country context. Despite the growing body of research on the use of ICTs in addressing societal challenges, our understanding of this phenomenon is limited regarding the active role played by both individuals and the technology itself. This research examines two case studies which offer different ways to advance understanding of the use of ICTs in resolving crucial yet under-researched societal problems in Myanmar that are explored at micro and macro levels of analysis. It uses multiple methods of data collection: documentation, website/social media analysis, interviews, focus groups and participant observation. It applies a ‘technology affordance’ approach as a theoretical lens that provides a relational concept, facilitating different users’ understanding of the available opportunities to use technology. The first study examines the emerging use of social media during a recent flood disaster in Myanmar at the micro (community) level. It focuses on how individuals (e.g., victims, volunteers and government officials) harness the power of social media for disaster response. We identify different affordances of social media and examine how these affordances enable local communities to respond to disaster situations and achieve relevant social outcomes, using the case of the 2015 Myanmar flood. The second study explores how mobile technology can increase financial access and bring socio-economic benefits to the country. We look into the current issues of financial exclusion and examine the potential of mobile money at the macro (ecosystem) level using the case of Wave Money, the first Fintech company to offer financial services in Myanmar. The findings demonstrate that realisation of a technology affordance differs between different user groups due to the various intentions of technology use in specific contexts. However, actualisation of a technology affordance contributes to the ultimate outcome, such as facilitating disaster response and increasing financial inclusion. This research provides an increased understanding of how to harness the power of emerging technologies in contributing to the solutions for a variety of social problems in developing countries from a sociotechnical view, enriching the IS research avenue