Knowledge sharing behaviors in e-learning community: Exploring the role of academic self-efficacy and sense of community

The purpose of this study was to explore the structural relationships between knowledge sharing behaviors (KSB), academic self-efficacy (ASE) and sense of community (SoC) of university students in e-learning community. The study was carried out with students who joined Facebook learning community that was created for the Computing I course which was taught with blended learning method. Data were collected from 316 university students by utilizing three self-report instruments: KSB scale, ASE scale (sub-scales: ‘social status’, ‘cognitive applications’ and ‘technical skills’) and classroom community (CC) scale (sub-scales: ‘connectedness’ and ‘learning’). The path analyses with structural equation modeling (SEM) further verified that students’ KSB were related to their ASE and SoC in e-learning community. The results of the study revealed that the ASE and SoC of the students positively affect their KSB. And in terms of sub-scales, the connectedness to the community, learning perception in the community, the self-efficacy of the students on the cognitive applications in the courses and their social status in the community positively affect KSB. However, students’ self-efficacy perceptions on their technical skills affect KSB positively but its affect size was smaller compared to other sub-scales. Further research studies and implications are presented and discussed.     

Trust and knowledge sharing in diverse global virtual teams

Global virtual teams (GVTs) allow organizations to improve productivity, procure global knowledge, and transfer best practice information instantaneously among team members. GVTs rely heavily on IT and have little face-to-face interaction, thereby increasing problems resulting from geographic barriers, time language, and cultural differences, and inter-personal relationships. The purpose of our study was to design a normative framework that would assist organizations in understanding the relationship between diversity, mutual trust, and knowledge sharing among GVTs, with additional focus on understanding the moderating impact of collaborative technology and task characteristics. Empirical data was collected from 58 GVTs and analyzed using a Hierarchical Multiple Regression technique. Results showed that in GVTs, deep level diversity has a more significant relationship with team processes of mutual trust and knowledge sharing than visible functional level diversity. This relationship is moderated by the collaborative capabilities of available technology and levels of interdependence of the task. Furthermore, knowledge sharing and mutual trust mediate the relationship between diversity levels and team effectiveness.     

Fostering the determinants of knowledge sharing in professional virtual communities

Professional virtual communities (PVCs), which are formed on the Internet, are expected to serve the needs of members for communication, information, and knowledge sharing. The executives of organizations should consider PVCs as a new innovation or knowledge pool since members share knowledge. However, many PVCs have failed due to members’ low willingness to share knowledge with other members. Thus, there is a need to understand and foster the determinants of members’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. This study develops an integrated model designed to investigate and explain the relationships between contextual factors, personal perceptions of knowledge sharing, knowledge sharing behavior, and community loyalty. Empirical data was collected from three PVCs and tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) to verify the fit of the hypothetical model. The results show that trust significantly influences knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility, which in turn positively affect knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, the study finds that the norm of reciprocity does not significantly affect knowledge sharing behavior. The results of the study can be used to identify the motivation underlying individuals’ knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs. By investigating the impacts of contextual factors and personal perceptions on knowledge sharing behavior, the integrated model better explains behavior than other proposed models. This study might help executives of virtual communities and organizations to manage and promote these determinants of knowledge sharing to stimulate members’ willingness to share knowledge and enhance their virtual community loyalty. As only little empirical research has been conducted on the impact of knowledge sharing self-efficacy, perceived relative advantage, and perceived compatibility on the individual’s knowledge sharing behavior in PVCs, the empirical evidence reported here makes a valuable contribution in this highly important area.     

Knowledge sharing in virtual enterprises via an ontology-based access control approach

Collaborating throughout a product life cycle via virtual enterprise (VE) is one of the most promising strategies for enhancing global competitiveness. Efficient and secure knowledge sharing is critical to the success of a VE. This study presents a novel approach, model and technology for knowledge access control and sharing across enterprises. First, this study proposes an ontology-based knowledge sharing model and a multiple-layer knowledge representation framework on which a knowledge access control model for knowledge sharing in a VE is proposed. In the proposed model, user authorizations permitting access to knowledge in a VE are classified into two levels: (1) basic privileges and (2) extended privileges. The former is evaluated from four dimensions, i.e. who, what, when and where, while the latter is determined by considering how three domain ontologies, i.e., product, organization and activity, are related. This study then develops a knowledge access control policy (KACP) language model which is used to identify the knowledge access control and sharing rules of a VE and all its enterprise members. The knowledge access control model proposed in this study can facilitate VE Knowledge management and sharing across enterprises, enhance knowledge sharing security and flexibility and regulate knowledge sharing to expeditiously reflect changes in the business environment.     

A fuzzy trust evaluation method for knowledge sharing in virtual enterprises

The success of virtual enterprises (VEs) depends on the effective sharing of related resources between various enterprises or workers who perform related activities. Specifically, VE success hinges on the integration and sharing of information and knowledge. Trust is an important facilitator of knowledge sharing. However, the trustworthiness of a peer is a vague concept that is dynamic and that often shifts over time or with environmental changes. This study designs a trust-based knowledge-sharing model based on characteristics of VEs and the knowledge structure model to express knowledge associated with VE activities. Subsequently, the factors that affect the trust evaluation are identified based on the characteristics of trust and VEs. Finally, this study develops a knowledge sharing, decision-making framework in which a fuzzy trust evaluation method for sharing knowledge is proposed based on VE activities and the interactions among workers in allied enterprises. The method consists of three sub-methods, including an activity correlation evaluation method, a current trust evaluation method, and an integral trust evaluation method. Under the premises of secure VE knowledge and reasonable access authorization, the proposed knowledge-sharing method provides the trust level between a knowledge-requesting enterprise and a knowledge-supplying enterprise to improve the willingness of the latter to share more valuable knowledge, ultimately increasing the efficiency and competitiveness of VEs.     

Ontology-based empirical knowledge verification for professional virtual community

A professional virtual community provides an interactive platform for enterprise experts to create and share their empirical knowledge cooperatively, and the platform contains a tremendous amount of hidden empirical knowledge that knowledge experts have preserved in the discussion process. Therefore, enterprise knowledge management highly prioritises how to verify the empirical knowledge effectively before archiving it into enterprise knowledge repository for reuse. This work develops a novel scheme of ontology-based empirical knowledge verification for professional virtual community to assist domain experts in a professional virtual community to verify the logics of empirical knowledge, thus ensuring the quality of empirical knowledge and providing accurate knowledge decision support for knowledge workers. In particular, this work has the following objectives: propose an empirical knowledge verification model for a professional virtual community, design an ontology-based empirical knowledge verification process, develop techniques related to the ontology-based empirical knowledge verification and implement an ontology-based empirical knowledge verification mechanism with an illustrative example of securities trading. Results of this study facilitate efforts within the professional virtual community to verify empirical knowledge in order to provide knowledge workers with logic-correct empirical knowledge for decision support.     

The role of creation mode and social networking mode in knowledge creation performance: Mediation effect of creation process

This study proposes and empirically examines a research model that incorporates the knowledge creation mode and social networking mode to describe knowledge creation performance. The mediation effect of the knowledge creation process is explored in terms of socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization (SECI). The data collected from the manufacturing and service industries in Taiwan were analyzed. The goal-driven mode and web topology are found to be significantly associated with product or service creation primarily because of the creation efficacy aspect. The SECI with web topology has a mediation function when the goal-driven mode is adopted. Implications and suggestions are also provided.     

A connective ethnography of peer knowledge sharing and diffusion in a tween virtual world

Prior studies have shown how knowledge diffusion occurs in classrooms and structured small groups around assigned tasks yet have not begun to account for widespread knowledge sharing in more native, unstructured group settings found in online games and virtual worlds. In this paper, we describe and analyze how an insider gaming practice spread across a group of tween players ages 9–12 years in an after-school gaming club that simultaneously participated in a virtual world called Whyville.net. In order to understand how this practice proliferated, we followed the club members as they interacted with each other and members of the virtual world at large. Employing connective ethnography to trace the movements in learning and teaching this practice, we coordinated data records from videos, tracking data, field notes, and interviews. We found that club members took advantage of the different spaces, people, and times available to them across Whyville, the club, and even home and classroom spaces. By using an insider gaming practice, namely teleporting, rather than the more traditional individual person as our analytical lens, we were able to examine knowledge sharing and diffusion across the gaming spaces, including events in local small groups as well as encounters in the virtual world. In the discussion, we address methodological issues and design implications of our findings.

Knowledge integration and sharing for collaborative molding product design and process development

This study presents a systematic approach to developing a knowledge integration and sharing mechanism for collaborative molding product design and process development. The proposed approach includes the steps of (i) collaborative molding product design and process development process modeling, (ii) an ontology-based knowledge model establishment, (iii) knowledge integration and sharing system framework design, (iv) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing methods development, and (v) ontology-based knowledge integration and sharing mechanism implementation. The mechanism can support collaborative molding product design and process development by providing functions of knowledge integration and sharing. Results of this study facilitate the knowledge integration and sharing of collaborative molding product design and process development to satisfy the product knowledge demands of participants, and thus increase molding product development capability, reduce molding product development cycle time and cost, and ultimately increase molding product marketability.     

Trust and conflict within virtual inter-organizational alliances: a framework for facilitating knowledge sharing

Trust and conflict are inherent issues of any organizational arrangement and central for knowledge sharing; yet they have received limited attention in the literature. In this paper, we undertake an investigation of both phenomena within the context of virtual alliances. A generic framework for understanding the dynamics of trust and conflict within the context of virtual inter-organizational arrangements is presented, followed by an examination of three distinct structural forms of virtual alliances, and strategies for generating trust and minimizing dysfunctional conflict. The paper concludes with an identification of avenues for further research.     

Knowledge sharing in online health communities: A social exchange theory perspective

Online health communities (OHC) are becoming valuable platforms for patients to communicate and find support. These communities are different from general online communities. The knowledge shared in an OHC can be categorized as either general (public) or specific (private), and each category is shared in vastly different ways. Using the social exchange theory, we propose a benefit vs. cost knowledge sharing model for OHCs. The benefits are mainly based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the cost includes cognitive and executional costs. We use this benefit vs. cost model to examine how OHC members share general and specific knowledge. Data were collected from 323 users of two well-known OHCs in China and were analyzed using the structural equation model. The results demonstrate that three factors positively impact the sharing of both general and specific knowledge: a sense of self-worth, members’ perceived social support, and reputation enhancement. Another factor, face concern, has a negative influence on specific knowledge sharing and a positive influence on general knowledge sharing. Executional cost only negatively impacts general knowledge sharing, and cognitive cost only negatively impacts specific knowledge sharing. This study of OHCs reveals that personal benefits promote knowledge sharing and costs prohibit it. These impacts vary between general knowledge and specific knowledge sharing.     

Knowledge sharing and investment decisions in information security

We study the relationship between decisions made by two similar firms pertaining to knowledge sharing and investment in information security. The analysis shows that the nature of information assets possessed by the two firms, either complementary or substitutable, plays a crucial role in influencing these decisions. In the complementary case, we show that the firms have a natural incentive to share security knowledge and no external influence to induce sharing is needed. However, the investment levels chosen in equilibrium are lower than optimal, an aberration that can be corrected using coordination mechanisms that reward the firms for increasing their investment levels. In the substitutable case, the firms fall into a Prisoners' Dilemma trap where they do not share security knowledge in equilibrium, despite the fact that it is beneficial for both of them to do so. Here, the beneficial role of a social planner to encourage the firms to share is indicated. However, even when the firms share in accordance to the recommendations of a social planner, the level of investment chosen by the firms is sub-optimal. The firms either enter into an “arms race” where they over-invest or reenact the under-investment behavior found in the complementary case. Once again, this sub-optimal behavior can be corrected using incentive mechanisms that penalize for over-investment and reward for increasing the investment level in regions of under-investment. The proposed coordination schemes, with some modifications, achieve the socially optimal outcome even when the firms are risk-averse. Implications for information security vendors, firms, and social planner are discussed.     

Antecedents of an experienced sense of virtual community

Sense of virtual community (SOVC) reflects the feeling that individual members have of belonging to an online social group. Yet there is a lack of investigation focusing on its individual-level antecedents. We argue that in order to enhance understanding of how SOVC develops we first need to distinguish between the individual expectations, actions, and the resulting community-related feelings. Drawing upon the uses and gratifications approach, we explore the community members’ expected benefits, their linkages with different types of community participation and consequently with the experienced SOVC. We tested the hypotheses on a sample of 395 members of a virtual community hosted by a Finnish business newspaper. The findings suggest that both forms of participation – reading and posting messages – have a positive impact on SOVC, but the expected benefits differ. Participation by reading messages is mainly driven by the expectation of cognitive benefits, while posting messages seems to be largely driven by the anticipation of both social and personal integrative benefits. Our study contributes by providing a refined SOVC conceptualization and operationalization for virtual-community research, and by opening up the individual-level actions that build up a sense of virtual community.     

Personality traits and knowledge sharing in online communities

Adopting diffusion theory and the concept of social value orientation, the effects of personality traits on knowledge sharing in a virtual open content community are investigated. In addition to the main effects of personality, it was hypothesized that intrinsic motivations would moderate the effects on knowledge sharing. A sample of N = 256 active users of Wikipedia provided measures of personality, motivation, and knowledge sharing. Latent regression analyses support the notion that authorship of Wikipedia is associated with higher levels of trendsetting and a prosocial value orientation. Moreover, moderation analyses demonstrate that the effect of the latter is moderated by individual differences in motivations to write. Differences with regard to opinion leadership could not be confirmed.     

高技术虚拟企业利益分配冲突求解系统的构建

为支持高技术虚拟企业对利益分配冲突的监控、识别和求解,基于可拓逻辑设计了一套具有较强元决策能力的冲突求解系统。根据发散思维和收敛思维相结合的问题求解框架,构建了利益分配冲突求解系统的体系结构;定义了实时监控利益分配冲突强度的可拓集,给出了表层利益分配冲突的识别方法和核心利益分配冲突的拓展方法,并设计了基于传导规则和共轭规则的启发式求解逻辑,使系统具备了自动调整利益分配策略的能力。系统体系结构的设计方案及其冲突求解策略可独立于利益分配冲突管理的背景,具有较好的可移植性。     

Knowledge sharing—A key role in the downstream supply chain

We explore the role of knowledge sharing within a downstream two-echelon supply chain. Drawing on chaos theory and the literature on knowledge management, we contrasted the information and knowledge sharing contexts. More specifically, we have provided a real-world case study of knowledge management practice at a U.S. Fortune 40 firm. We reviewed the major issues in this firm's downstream supply chain operations and have described its knowledge management initiative. Finally, we discuss the implications of knowledge management on managerial practice.     

Knowledge sharing and ERP system usage in post-implementation stage

Many organizations have adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in recent years to integrate information and information-based processes within and across functional areas. Because of the under-utilization of ERP systems, most of these organizations are disappointed in reaching the anticipated business goals. It is imperative to explore how to facilitate the usage of ERP systems for organizations. This study aims to develop an understanding of the effect of knowledge sharing on ERP system usage and the factors affecting employees’ knowledge sharing after the initial implementation of an ERP system. Selected social oriented theories were employed to develop our conceptual model. By means of a survey of 804 ERP users from 53 Taiwan companies, we confirmed our research model to some extent and found that social capital, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy all have significant impacts on knowledge sharing. However, contrary to common belief, we found a negative, though insignificant, effect of extrinsic motivation on knowledge sharing. The implications for research, practice, and future research directions are discussed herein.     

Knowledge processes in virtual teams: consolidating the evidence

This article takes stock of the current state of research on knowledge processes in virtual teams (VTs) and consolidates the extent research findings. Virtual teams, on the one hand, constitute important organisational entities that facilitate the integration of diverse and distributed knowledge resources. On the other hand, collaborating in a virtual environment creates particular challenges for the knowledge processes. The article seeks to consolidate the diverse evidence on knowledge processes in VTs with a specific focus on identifying the factors that influence the effectiveness of these knowledge processes. The article draws on the four basic knowledge processes outlined by Alavi and Leidner (2001 Alavi, M.Leidner, D.E., 2001. Review: knowledge management and knowledge management systems: conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly, 25 (1), 107–136. doi: 10.2307/3250961[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) (i.e. creation, transferring, storage/retrieval and application) to frame the investigation and discuss the extent research. The consolidation of the existing research findings allows us to recognise the gaps in the understanding of knowledge processes in VTs and identify the important avenues for future research.     

对社区电子政务网络安全和数据共享问题的思考

简要阐述了VPN和Web Services技术及特点,分析了在公共网络基础之上利用VPN技术解决社区政务网的安全问题,和利用Web Services技术解决异构系统的数据共享问题。提出了基于VPN和Web Services技术实现社区电子政务专网的构建思路。并给出了一个以贵阳市某社区电子政务业务专网的VPN设计实例,分析了VPN技术的优缺点。最后,以贵阳市某社区电子政务业务专网为应用背景给出了一个社区电子政务应用集成平台的设计实例,并分析了Web Services的优缺点。