KM-Master Course , 2005

1. Module: Communautés virtuelles,Agents intelligentsC2: People differences.Theories and consequences KM-Master Course, 2005 Thierry NABETH INSEAD CALT – The Centre for Advanced Learning Technologies, Fontainebleau, France

2. People difference & implication People are different: • personality, motives, competence, cognitive style (learning style, working style), culture, etc. • Implications (individual perspective) • How people fulfil Roles and responsibilities, how they are motivated the individuals, dysfunction, etc.. • Implications on groups & communities • Group dynamics (competitive or collaborative) • diffusion of knowledge, ideas and beliefs • How to take into account people specificity in social digital environments?

3. Some theories taking into account this difference • Psychological theories • Personality • Motivation • Age & experience • Cognitive styles • Gender • Etc. • Theories about groups, communities & society • teams work • innovation diffusion • social epidemics • culture (European latin, Asian, United State, etc.) • Etc.

4. Psychological theories • An individual perspective. • How people behave individually • Has implication on the interaction with others Note: do people change over the time (biological or not?)? • Some theories: • Personality theories (Big five, etc.) • Motivation theories (16 basic factors, by Reiss) • Age & Experience (Andragogy by Malcolm Knowles) • Learning styles (Learning Orientations Model, etc.) • Etc.

5. Personality: Big Five • Description • Proposed by Costa & McCrae • People behaviours depends on the value of 5 independent traits. • Note: The traits are behavioural orientation since the context is also used when people act • The 5 traits: • Extroversion (Sociable / Reserved) • Conscientiousness (Self-disciplined / Impulsive) • Emotional Stability (Self-Confident / Insecure) • Agreeableness (Sympathetic / Cold) • Openness to Experience (Curious / Unimaginative)

6. Motivation: 16 basic desires • Description • Proposed by Stephen Reiss (from statistical analysis) • People are motivated by 16 independent basic* desires. • Note: * Basic means they do represent self satisfying desires • The 16 desires: • Power, Independence, Curiosity, Acceptance • Order, Saving, Honour, Idealism • Social contact, Family, Status, Vengeance • Romance, Eating, Physical exercise, Tranquillity

7. Age & experience: Andragogy & adult learning • Description • Proposed by Malcolm Knowles • For Knowles, andragogy is premised on at least four (+1) crucial assumptions about the characteristics of adult learners that are different from the assumptions about child learners. • The 5 assumptions: • Self-concept: more self-directed human being • Experience: accumulation a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning. • Readiness to learn. The readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his social roles. • Orientation to learning. immediacy of application and problem centred (versus subject-centred). • Motivation to learn: the motivation to learn becomes internal

8. Learning style: Learning orientation model • Description • Proposed by several researcher and has its roots in Neurosciences. • The Learning Orientation Model highlights the whole-person perspective as it presents ranges for four learning orientations • It is based on a three-factor construct: • Conative/Affective Aspects • Strategic Planning and Committed Effort • Learning Autonomy • The four learning orientations: • Transforming Learners • Performing Learners • Conforming Learners • Resistant Learners http://www.trainingplace.com/source/research/lomatrix.htm

9. Sociological, group theories • A social & group perspective. • How people behave with others (role, leadership, etc.) • Implication on work, social network, etc. • Some theories: • Forming performing teams (Belbin) • Innovation diffusion (Everett Rogers) • Social Epidemics (Malcolm Gladwell) • Etc.

10. Team role: Belbin theory • Description • Proposed by Meredith Belbin • A team role is defined as: • “A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way.“ • The eight roles individuals play in a team: • Plant (PL). • Resource investigator (RI). • Co-ordinator (CO) • Shaper (SH). • Monitor evaluator (ME). • Teamworker (TW). • Implementer (IM). • Completer (CP). http://www.belbin.com/belbin-team-roles.htm

11. Innovation diffusion: Everett Rogers theory • Description • Proposed by Everett Rogers (originate from statistics) • People are different related to their readyness to adopt innovation. Important related to social networking. • The level of innovation: • Innovators (2.5%): venturesome, cosmopolite, networked with other innovators, financial resources, cope with uncertainty, …. • Early Adopters (13.5%): respectable, more local than innovators, strong opinion leadership. • Early Majority (34%): interact frequently with peers, rarely opinion leadership, long period of deliberation. • Late Majority (34%): adoption might result from economic/social necessity due to the diffusion effect, skeptical and cautious, …. • Laggards (16%): most localite, point of reference is the past, suspicious of change agents and innovations, few resources.

12. Social epidemics: Malcolm Gladwell • Description • Proposed by Malcolm Gladwell (the tipping point) • Gladwell explains that the power to start idea epidemics rests with the few, influential beyond their meager numbers, who are connectors, mavens and salesmen. • The influential people in spreading of ideas: • The Connector is someone who traffics in people, who has extraordinary social connections. • The Maven is someone who traffics in information. • The Salesman is someone who can win over those who are on the sidelines. http://carquinezreview.com/Columns/Articles/connectors_%20mavens_salesmen.htm

13. Cultural differences • Description • People adhere in their life to different cultural values such as: • Individualism / looking for consensus; honour; etc. • Gender issues • Theories: • Sociology: • Common ground Theory • Psychology & cognition: • Cultural psychology. (e.g. the work of Richard Nisbett) • Management • Cross-cultural research • Anthropology: • Theories about the structure of power. (for instance the theory of the Big Man)

14. Cultural differences. Illustration • Some books by Richard Nisbett: • The Geography of Thought: Why We Think the Way We Do • “The Geography of Thought shows that East Asia and the West have had different systems of thought, including perception, assumptions about the nature of the world, and thinking processes, for thousands of years. Ancient Greek philosophers were "analytic“. Psychological experiments show the same is true of ordinary Westerners today. Ancient Chinese philosophers and ordinary East Asians today share a "holistic" orientation. Differences in thought stem from differences in social practices, with the West being individualistic and the East collectivistic”. • Culture of Honor • Culture of Honor shows that the U.S. South is more violent than the North. The greater violence is limited to situations where there has been an insult or a threat to home or property. Laboratory experiments show that southerners respond with more anger and greater increases in testosterone and cortisol levels when insulted than do northerners and surveys show they feel that violence is an appropriate response to insult or threat to property.

15. Cultural differences. Illustration (2) • Article by Michael Segalla: • E-mail : le comportement des managers européens • In Les Echos. L'Art du management - 4/10 : Maîtriser le choc technologique - 03/11/2005 • Dimensions that have been observed • long and unclear emails: • spanish and italian concerned. • French and German less concerned • emails that are irrelevant for the receiver • badly written emails • Badly perceived by Germans, spanish & italians • More accepted by frenchs • reading the email as soon as it arrives. • etc.

16. Integrating people specificity in social digital environments • Elements. • Motivation, Autonomy, • Roles, • Translucence, (trust and reputation), support of empathy • Personalization, • etc. • Applications • Blogging, • virtual communities • wikis, • Forum, • Recommanders systems, Class discussion