Use of Wiki and Blogs

Knowledge consists of different types, such as know what, know how, know why

and know who. (MA Chatti et al, 2007)

Know What- Know information about factories.

Know How - Through web2.0 technologies like wiki’s and blogs.

Know Why- To gain competitive edge and customer satisfaction.

Know Who- All the employees of Albion Fabrics.

Use of Technology for Knowledge Sharing: (Web 2.0)

In Albion Fabrics, knowledge sharing plays a key role in the whole development of the organisation. We see that knowledge should be shared and maintained for Albion’s over all development. Through proper knowledge sharing we gain competitive edge and customer satisfaction which keeps us in business. Knowledge regarding the industries we work with should be shared in order to educate each and every employee with sufficient knowledge about the industries specifications, machinery, special features, flaws and track record so as to reduce the time for decision making and research.

So, to help our employees share knowledge they have, we are introducing wiki and blogging to our organisation so that both codification and personalisation strategies can be implemented. These are one of the best platforms to share knowledge and will be within the budget.

Use of Wiki:

A wiki is a website where information and knowledge can be stored and every user can contribute to it. Albion’s wiki is only made available for the staff in the intranet where every person of the staff can share their knowledge and experience with particular industries. Wiki works as a repository in our organisation. Each group or individual staff will contribute to the wiki and constant monitoring and moderation will be present to check if the information provided is true or not. We also keep a track record of the all the industries and experiences with each and this information will be available on the wiki. We use wiki as a tool for collaborative environment to make good use of the knowledge we have and form a virtual CoP.

This is effective because it helps the process of codification strategy and wiki is easy to access and with a search engine in it, it helps employees to access information and gain knowledge easily which in turn reduces time for making decisions. But there are some problems with wiki such as anyone using it can upload information which may be untrue sometimes. But this causes a huge problem to the organisation. So here comes the process called “Darwikinism” where unfit sections are culled, edited or replaced which results in high quality wiki. So, a wiki is a simple and user-friendly platform where employees share their knowledge and make it explicit.

This method of sharing knowledge is effective because there is a wide scope for learning, past mistakes won’t be repeated, also works as a centralised organisational unit for organisational learning. FAQ’s can be answered readily and makes knowledge transfer easy.

Use of Blogs:

Blogging, a web2.0 technology has become very popular these days. We in our organisation encourage every member of the staff to have their own blog and publish posts about their experiences with a particular industry and its work behaviour regularly so that every employee goes through it, post comments and share their tacit knowledge.

Knowledge workers use blogs to capture and use information, to document individual thoughts, to reflect and to convey with others. This way, some of their tacit knowledge becomes explicit. This way of knowledge sharing is effective because it involves less money and effort. It also helps increasing the communication between individuals and there by resulting a friendly work environment.

Let me make it clear to you by giving a example. Our organisation got a order from Marks and Spencer to get them 10000 pieces of cotton shirts with different designs. The team associated to Marks and Spencer started looking at different industries in India which manufacture good quality cotton shirts. The team looks at other aspects as well such as specifications given by the designer and the capability of the industry to manufacture such kind of shirts. To get all this information, it takes so much time for the team to decide for any particular industry. Now, with the wiki’s having records of every industry it will be easy for them to find the particular industry they are looking for. To know much about the industry and the problem they may face there, the team looks at blogs of other employees who wrote about their experiences with the chosen industry. This way Blogs and Wiki helps the employees and eventually the organisation for knowledge sharing.

References:

MA Chatti, M Jarke, D Frosch-Wilke ; 2007, International Journal of knowledge and Learning