Validation of factors motivating organizational CoP activities

Abstract

Finns which implemented knowledge management initiatives, in addition to building an enterprise-wide knowledge management system, have found interest in nurturing voluntary knowledge sharing organizations, called communities of practice (CoP). Case studies in chapter 2 aimed at exploring the conditions required of firms for adapting CoP successfully through the cases of SK Corporation and LG Electronics, which are the firms that are most actively implementing CoP. More than anything, the findings of the study suggest that the knowledge sharing can be promoted in the firms that possess corporate culture, which values collaboration and relationship. Also, when organizational resources, such as information technology, were provided based on such culture, it enabled sufficient promotion of the knowledge-sharing activities within the firm. In order to verify statistically such activating factors which we learned through the case studies, an exploratory empirical study was implemented in chapter 3. The fist empirical study was provided as follows: Adopting the Triandis model on attitude formation, this study identified and validated a set of organizational factors that are expected to have effects on knowledge sharing by CoP members such as perceived consequences, affect, social factors and facilitating conditions. 179 members from 70 CoPs of a large multinational electronics firm participated in this study. Based on the PLS analysis, perceived consequences, affect, social factors and facilitating conditions were found to have effects on knowledge sharing in CoP. For further analysis, the respondents were divided into two groups, production group & research group, and tested the model for each group. In the production group, perceived consequences and affect had a positive effect on knowledge sharing, while, for the research group, social factors and facilitating conditions were found to affect the CoP members`` knowledge sharing. The second confirmatory empirical st...