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Ann Majchrzak, Professor of Information Systems University of Southern California

The Role of Shapers in Virtual Firm-based Practice Networks using Wikis: Implications for Systems Engineering. Ann Majchrzak, Professor of Information Systems University of Southern California majchrza@usc.edu. Background: What is a Wiki?. Wikis = “Fast” Website: Example  Katrina Wiki.

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Ann Majchrzak, Professor of Information Systems University of Southern California

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  1. The Role of Shapers in Virtual Firm-based Practice Networks using Wikis: Implications for Systems Engineering Ann Majchrzak, Professor of Information Systems University of Southern California majchrza@usc.edu

  2. Background: What is a Wiki?

  3. Wikis = “Fast” Website: Example  Katrina Wiki

  4. Open Wiki Way: Wiki content not owned by individual authors; focus on community ; everyone can contribute and change content easily, if given access to page

  5. Simple Wiki Way: content maintenance principles. Simplified mark-up (language), rules for modifying and integrating other authors’ pages (“refactoring rules”), as well as page design standards (templates).

  6. Incremental Wiki Way: Incremental growth. Links to missing pages permitted and rendered as open questions for someone else to address. Hyperlink automatically created when a missing page is added.

  7. Observable Wiki Way: observability of all content, past and present leads to broad reviews and better quality.

  8. Organic Wiki Way: Organic growth. A wiki structure can be changed by any wiki author, as the need arises.

  9. CMS Portal Weblog Wiki Discussion Forum Group-ware Chat room “Sweet Spots”:Collaboration and Coordination E-mail / Listserv different Coordination across time zones same few Collaborators many

  10. Wiki Discussion Forum E-mail / Listserv Weblog Group-ware CMS Portal “Sweet Spots”: Dispersion of Knowledge many Knowledge Sources few Knowledge Recipients few many

  11. E-mail / Listserv Weblog Wiki Discussion Forum Group-ware CMS Portal “Sweet Spots”: Knowledge Maintenance Community KMS high Ease of Knowledge Maintenance Enterprise KMS low Knowledge Organization low high

  12. Systems Engineering Uses of Wiki Applications • Company, project, or department intranet with collaboratively editing pages on new technologies, project status, customer information (as a CRM with dashboards), bug tracking, competitor information (with RSS feeds) • Fast problem identification and resolution mechanism • Project management (meeting minutes, task status, repository, workflow automation) • Solutions sharing (FAQ, best practice) • Distributed meeting coordination

  13. Corporate Directory

  14. Summary of Wiki’s Potential for Systems Engineering • Encourages people to share knowledge by project, practice area, function, problem, or issue within firms emergently • Allows for organizing knowledge as it evolves • The opportunity of a ‘shaping’ role emerges * Wasko & Faraj 2005

  15. Shaping • Contributing by integrating, distilling, organizing & rewriting contributions of others • Shaping is a practice-based role* • Facilitates knowledge transformation by helping community to exchange & combine its knowledge to refine its perspective & to take new perspectives** * Brown & Duguid 2001, Feldman & Pentland 2003, Orlikowski 2002 ** Boland & Tenkasi 1995, Dougherty 1992, Carlile 2004, Nahapiet & Ghoshal 1998

  16. Example of a Shaper: Howard • 75-person software engineering group at a multi-billion dollar tech company • “I spend up to two hours a day working on the wiki. Much of this time I reorganize other people’s materials, rename pages, create new links on the home page, or restructure the home page. Benefits aren’t to mean personally, but they help the group collaborate more effectively. They can find things easier”

  17. Motivation for Research • Prior research focused on why people contribute personal content knowledge to networks & repositories* • Shapers relatively ignored** • Shapers & Personal Knowledge Contributors (PKCs) have different barriers to overcome: “some edit others work, & some don’ts” * Fulk et al 1996, 2004; Bagozzi & Dholakia 2006, Bock et al 2005, Kalman et al 2005, Roberst et sl 2006, Wasko & Faraj 2005 **Butler et al in press is an exception

  18. Research Questions • Are there unique characteristics of participants in virtual practice networks who a) primarily shape vs b) primarily contribute personal knowledge? • Are the factors explaining the level of participation in each role different?

  19. PKCs Lose sole claim to knowledge Deep task expertise* - self-proclaimed - relative to others in network (network perceived to have well-developed transactive memory) Shapers Reactions of others to edits (especially if converging on domain) Focus on divergence in domain**(new business opportunities) More general expertise Hyp 1: Unique Chars? Barriers: H1: Predicted profile to overcome barriers *Gray 2001, Kankanhalli et al 2005, Bock et al 2005, Menon et al 2006 **Boland & Tenkasi 1995

  20. PKCs Lose sole claim to knowledge Social Exchange: Benefits > Costs Shapers Reactions of others to edits (especially if converging on domain) Social Capital: Combination Process to foster new intellectual capital Hyp 2: Explain Level of Participation in Each Role? Barriers: H2: Diff theories to explain level of participation *Gray 2001, Kankanhalli et al 2005, Bock et al 2005, Menon et al 2006 **Boland & Tenkasi 1995

  21. Hyp 2 (cont):Predictors to Level of Participation Shapers PKCs Social Exchange Theory Social Capital Theory Exchange/Combo Opportunity - # accesses by community Anticipation of new knowledge creation - perceived novelty of task Motivation to combine/exchange - worth to organization Combination capability - Received reputation Costs in time Benefits for indiv work Benefits for group work (member of core group) Benefits to orgztn

  22. Research Methods: Survey of firm wiki users that protects firm & personal identity • Solicitation on 10 listservers likely visited by firm-based wiki participants • Followed accepted recs for decreasing response bias • Identified Shapers & PKCs within sample: factor analysis of types of contributions, then median splits on two types

  23. Means for Shaper vs PKC Contributions

  24. H1 Confirmed: Profiles Different for Shapers vs. PKCs 78.5% classification accuracy

  25. H2 & H3 Test • Moderator Regressions

  26. 2-Tiered Regression Results on Level of Participation for Shapers and Personal Knowledge Contributors Combined ***=p<.001; **p<.01, *p<.05

  27. Interaction Effects

  28. Interaction Effects

  29. Regressions of Level of Participation for Each Group

  30. Implications for Systems Engineering • Seed networks with technology and technology norms that encourage collaborative editing • Encourage networks to take on novel tasks, encourage benefits at multiple levels in organization, promote network to increase frequency of accesses • DON’T assume that deep task expertise is needed for each network or need to assign formal roles Give network the seeds; allow it to bloom

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