A case study on the application of wiki technology for knowledge management in the corporate setting

Abstract

In our current world of postindustrial generation, knowledge has been considered as one of the most significant production resources. More and more organizations realize the importance of leveraging and retaining employees‟ knowledge in order to create their competitive advantages. As a result, knowledge management (KM) initiatives in organizations are becoming increasingly important and firms are making significant information technology (IT) investments in deploying different solutions with the aim to make knowledge building and sharing among employees more efficiently. Wikis, as one of the popular Web2.0 toolsets, have provided new possibilities for collaborative knowledge building, knowledge capturing as well as easy interaction among employees. Wiki distinguishes itself for its simplicity and its “open” and “free” principle for usage. The most active wiki site – Wikipedia, allows everyone to edit everything in order to build up an online encyclopedia together. Those features have made the wide acceptance of Wikis as an effective knowledge management application by many prominent companies. However, compared with adopting Wikis for the public use, the company should consider its special environment first and notice some potential risks Wikis might bring to their business. Meanwhile some also argue that Wikis are just another technology fad and not worth of implementing if the company has other KM solutions in place already. To examine those questions, the researcher conducted a case study in a business-type organization who has just recently adopted wiki technology to enhance its already matured KM program. By interviewing the Wiki project leader, team members, as well as some general users, the researcher tried to find out why the company adopted wiki technology, what changes they had to make for Wikis to be more suitable for their business, and what new benefits Wikis had brought to their KM program. In addition, through the interviews, the researcher also explored the company‟s key KM initiatives so that to understand the important role that a solid KM program had played in the successful technology implementation. In the end, the researcher provided a set of recommendations for those who may want to build up a wiki-based enterprise KM program for their organization as well as some suggestions for further researches on this topic.