A67.
Majchrzak, A., Rice, R. E., King, N.,
Malhotra, A., & Ba, S. (1999). Computer-mediated
interorganizational
knowledge-sharing: Insights from a virtual team innovating using a
collaborative tool. Information
Resources Management Journal, 13(1),
44-53. Reprinted
as Rice, R. E., Majchrzak, A., King,
N., Ba., S. & Malhotra (2002). Computer-mediated
interorganizational knowledge-sharing: Insights from a virtual team
innovating
using a collaborative tool. In Y. Malhotra (Ed.), Knowledge
management and virtual organizations
(pp. 84-100). Hershey, PA:
Idea Group Publishers.
How does a team use a computer-mediated
technology to share and re-use
knowledge when the team is inter-organizational and virtual, when the
team
must compete for the attention of team members with collocated teams,
and
when the task is the creation of a completely new innovation? From a
review
of the literature on knowledge sharing and re-use using collaborative
tools,
three propositions are generated about the likely behavior of the team
in
using the collaborative tool and re-using the knowledge put in the
knowledge
repository. A multi-method longitudinal research study of this design
team
was conducted over their ten-month design effort. Both qualitative and
quantitative
data were obtained. Results indicated that the propositions from the
literature
were insufficient to explain the behavior of the team. We found that
ambiguity
of the task does not determine use of a collaborative tool; that tool
use
does not increase with experience; and that knowledge that is perceived
as
transient (whether it really is transient or not) is unlikely to be
referenced
properly for later search and retrieval. Implications for practice and
theory
are discussed.
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