Ralf Klamma RWTH Aachen University Tallinn, November 21, 2008 Social Software in Knowledge Management of Organizations http://beamtenherrschaft.blogspot.com

Agenda Motivation Social Software for Knowledge Management Communities of Practice aware Knowledge Management Innovative Networking Tools Conclusions and Outlook

Motivation

Social Software for Knowledge Management

Communities of Practice aware Knowledge Management

Innovative Networking Tools

Conclusions and Outlook

Turning your organizational data into competitive advantage Community-Data Social Network Analysis based Knowledge Management Competititive Advantage

Social Software Second Life 7 WOW 70 MySpace 171 Skype 120 MSN Space 11 LiveJournal 4 Wikipedia 3 Second Life Users (in Millions, by the end of 2006) Social Software Data is the Next Intel Inside -> Unique data Users Add Value -> no restrictions, Inclusive Network Effects by Default -> Collective Intelligence Some Rights Reserved -> Standards, Remix The Perpetual Beta -> Smaller modular Components Cooperate, Don't Control -> Light Web Services, Loose Syndication of data and systems (RSS, Mash-ups) Software Above the Level of a Single Device -> Software mobile and ubiquitous The Long Tail -> Small Communities O‘Reilly: What is Web 2.0?, 2005

Data is the Next Intel Inside -> Unique data

Users Add Value -> no restrictions, Inclusive

Network Effects by Default -> Collective Intelligence

Some Rights Reserved

-> Standards, Remix

The Perpetual Beta -> Smaller modular Components

Cooperate, Don't Control -> Light Web Services, Loose Syndication of data and systems (RSS, Mash-ups)

Software Above the Level of a Single Device

-> Software mobile and ubiquitous

The Long Tail -> Small Communities

Web 2.0 Knowledge Management Emergent Metadata Collective intelligence Wisdom of the Crowd Collaborative Filtering Visualizing Knowledge Networks Ranking Sense-making Remixing Aggregation Embedding Tagging ("folksonomy") and syndication directories (taxonomy) and stickiness Social learning Identifying competences Emergent Collaboration Trust & Social capital Microcontent Providing commentary Personal knowledge publishing Establishing personal networks Testing Ideas blogging and wikis User generated content Participation personal website and content management Web 2.0 Web 1.0 Impact on Professional Communities Impact on Knowledge Work Cultural and Technological Shift by Social Software

Communities of practice Community of practice (CoP) as the basic concept for human collaboration and learning Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better Wenger: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, 1998

Community of practice (CoP) as the basic concept for human collaboration and learning

Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better

Components of social theory of learning Learning as doing Learning as experience Learning as belonging Learning as becoming Community Practice Meaning Identity Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity . Learning

Features of CoP Situated Learning Learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs (i.e. it is situated) Informal and Co-located The gradual acquisition of knowledge and skills learned from experts in the context of their everyday activities Group Knowledge Knowledge is mediated through social interaction and collaboration in the group Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) Novices move from peripheral to full participation as they gain legitimacy in the group

Situated Learning

Learning is a function of the activity, context and culture in which it occurs (i.e. it is situated)

Informal and Co-located

The gradual acquisition of knowledge and skills learned from experts in the context of their everyday activities

Group Knowledge

Knowledge is mediated through social interaction and collaboration in the group

Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP)

Novices move from peripheral to full participation as they gain legitimacy in the group

CoPs and the world of work Wenger (1998) studied a CoP in a large insurance company and identified two key processes in CoPs: participation and reification. Participation “ ... the social experience of living in the world in terms of membership in social communities and active involvement in social enterprises” (p 55 ) Reification “ ... the process of giving form to our experience by producing objects that congeal this experience into thingness” (p 58)

Wenger (1998) studied a CoP in a large insurance company and identified two key processes in CoPs: participation and reification.

Participation

“ ... the social experience of living in the world in terms of membership in social communities and active involvement in social enterprises” (p 55 )

Reification

“ ... the process of giving form to our experience by producing objects that congeal this experience into thingness” (p 58)

CoPs and Work A CoP is now defined in terms of: What it is about The activity/body of knowledge that the community has organized itself around - a joint enterprise How it functions How people are linked through their involvement in common activities - mutual engagement What it produces The set of resources the members of a CoP build up over time - their shared repertoire

A CoP is now defined in terms of:

What it is about

The activity/body of knowledge that the community has organized itself around - a joint enterprise

How it functions

How people are linked through their involvement in common activities - mutual engagement

What it produces

The set of resources the members of a CoP build up over time - their shared repertoire

Interaction in Cooperative Knowledge Processes C ommunity o f P ractice ( CoP ) Participation Reification Knowledge Management ( KM ) in form of CoP Turning utterances and data into needs and knowledge Finding out what is really happening in your organization Community-Awareness A key way to cultivate CoP Should be maintained and kept up to data Question: How can we foster community-aware knowledge management?

C ommunity o f P ractice ( CoP )

Participation

Reification

Knowledge Management ( KM ) in form of CoP

Turning utterances and data into needs and knowledge

Finding out what is really happening in your organization

Community-Awareness

A key way to cultivate CoP

Should be maintained and kept up to data

Question: How can we foster community-aware knowledge management?

Community-Awareness Community-Awareness: Knowing what is going on in community of practice The Community-Awareness Framework (adapted from [GuGr02] ) SNA views social network in terms of nodes and ties [WaFa94] Nodes: the individual actors within the networks Ties: the relationships between the actors

Community-Awareness: Knowing what is going on in community of practice

The Community-Awareness Framework (adapted from [GuGr02] )

SNA views social network in terms of nodes and ties [WaFa94]

Nodes: the individual actors within the networks

Ties: the relationships between the actors

Bubble Annotation Tool BAT: Knowledge Management with Fun Doctorial Seminar

PALADIN: Pattern Based Dynamic Social Analysis Doctorial Seminar

Competences in Social Networks a) Technical Star b) Organizational Star Figure: MIT Sloan School Review

Diving in the organizational data pool Doctorial Seminar Community Mining Media Mining Process Mining

DABA: Driving the Organizational Knowledge Management Bus Research different dashboard engines Determine content of DABA Investigate elements of community-awareness Select SNA methods Design widgets and dynamic activities between them Dashboard prototype

Research different dashboard engines

Determine content of DABA

Investigate elements of community-awareness

Select SNA methods

Design widgets and dynamic activities between them

Dashboard prototype

Conclusions and Outlook Communities of practice as source for community-aware Knowledge Management Innovative Tools for turning data into knowledge Bubble Annotation Tool PALADIN BaDa: A Dashboard for Organizational Knowledge Management Case Studies with the tools in the near future

Communities of practice as source for community-aware Knowledge Management

Innovative Tools for turning data into knowledge

Bubble Annotation Tool

PALADIN

BaDa: A Dashboard for Organizational Knowledge Management

Case Studies with the tools in the near future