Document Type

Dissertation

Rights

This item is available under a Creative Commons License for non-commercial use only

Disciplines

Computer Sciences

Publication Details

Successfully submitted for the award of M.Sc. in Computing (Knowledge Management) to the Technological University Dublin, July 2009.

Abstract

Communication and collaboration are very important topics in the domain of

Knowledge Management. Knowledge, which exists within the employees of an

organisation, can be extracted and harnessed effectively to become an extremely

valuable asset to the ongoing business goals and objectives of the organisation. This

embedded knowledge must be released in an appropriate manner in order for it to be

usable and, it has been shown that dialogue and discussion through the use of an online

tool, enables this release and re-use of vital concepts and knowledge.

This research investigates the area of communication and knowledge sharing amongst

disparate Irish Civil Service groups. Government organisations are primarily

knowledge-driven bodies and the loss of both tacit and procedural knowledge can

prove highly detrimental. By participating in collaborative practices such as

Communities of Practice and by using extended online communicative tools such as

threaded forums and wikis, it is hoped that knowledge will be formally retained within

the organisation, and that employees can develop, learn and become more valuable to

an organisation.

Investigating the barriers and motivations for such participation exposes areas for

senior management in an organisation to focus their strategic goals in the area of reallife

Knowledge Management; utilise existing technologies to better manage the

knowledge that exists and circulates through their organisation; and thereby encourage

a more participative and skilled Knowledge workforce and move in the direction of

becoming a Learning Organisation.

For this experiment, extended moderation of a collaborative workspace was monitored

in the hope of encouraging broader understanding and use of this workspace and a

realisation of the value of the input of others in progressing real-life working habits.

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