Can knowledge management be open source?

Authors

Charmaine Pfaff, University of WollongongFollow
Helen M. Hasan, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

22196

Publication Details

Pfaff, C. & Hasan, H. M. (2007). Can knowledge management be open source?. In J. Feller, B. Fitzgerald, W. Scacchi & A. Sillitti (Eds.), Open Source Development, Adoption and Innovation - IFIP Working Group 2.13 on Open Source Software (pp. 59-70). Boston: Springer.

Abstract

As we move further into a knowledge economy where collaborationand innovation are increasingly central to organisational effectiveness,enterprises need to pay more attention to the informal networks that existwithin the organisation. Wikis may provide a more appropriate knowledgemanagement capability and environment to capture tacit knowledge. Wheretraditional organisational cultures see that knowledge management must betightly protected, Wikis opt for an open source approach where knowledge isshared and distributed for innovation to continue. This paper aims to explicatemore participatory organisational processes of creation, accumulation andmaintenance of knowledge. It uses Activity Theory as a framework to describethe components of an activity system where a Wiki is a tool mediatingemployee-based knowledge management activities and thereby democratisingorganisational knowledge.