Communities and other social structures for knowledge sharing: a case study in an internet consultancy company

Authors:
Inkeri Ruuska;Matti Vartiainen
Affiliations:
Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Laboratory of Work Psychology and Leadership, Finland;Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Laboratory of Work Psychology and Leadership, Finland
Venue:
Communities and technologies
Year:
2003

Citing 6
Cited 2

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Abstract

This research aims at understanding how people share knowledge in their everyday work in a project-based company. The social structures for knowledge sharing are characterised as formal, informal, and quasi-informal structures. They vary from those with high formalisation to the informal, and even include structures which are invisible and unrecognised in the organisation. They also vary in their composition. They may share the same or different space, and communication is based on face-to-face or virtual interaction. Data was collected by means of documents and interviews (n=18) during the autumn of 2002 and the winter of 2003 from an Internet consultancy company. The study shows the great variety of formal, informal, and quasi-informal social structures that are used for knowledge sharing in the case company. In all, sixteen different structures were found. The number of formal structures is smaller than the number of informal ones. Their analysis in terms of five dimensions also shows their great heterogeneity.