An empirical study of an informal knowledge repository in a medium-sized software consulting company

Abstract

Numerous studies have been conducted on design and architecture of knowledge repositories. This paper addresses the need for looking at practices where knowledge repositories are actually used in concrete work situations. This insight should be used when developing knowledge repositories in the future.Through methods inspired by ethnography this paper investigates how an unstructured knowledge repository is used for different purposes by software developers and managers in a medium-sized software consulting company. The repository is a part of the company's knowledge management tool suite on the Intranet. We found five distinct ways of using the tool, from solving specific technical problems to getting an overview of competence in the company. We highlight the importance of informal organization and the social integration of the tool in the daily work practices of the company.

A Study of Developer Attitude to Component Reuse in Three IT Companies

“…Therefore, informal knowledge transfer should be considered to supplement the insufficiency of formal component documentation and specification. This point was showed in other empirical studies as well [6] [10]. For research question RQ4, we found that informal knowledge transfer is especially important in the component reuse.…”

Participatory archive: towards decentralised curation, radical user orientation, and broader contextualisation of records management

“…According to the earlier studies on collaborative digital information repositories, the functional sustainability of a repository is highly dependent on the activity of archive users and the emergence of a culture of collaboration, integration into daily practises, and a critical mass to sustain necessary level of contributions, which obliges others to contribute (Peddibhotla and Subramani 2007;Hollingshead Fulk, and Monge 2002;Dingsøyr and Røyrvik 2003). On the other hand, we suggest that the archive does not need to be updated constantly if its materials are of sufficient significance to some of the users.…”

A Knowledge Management Perspective on Business Models

“…In creating a knowledge repository, knowledge is collected, summarized, and integrated across sources". Dingsøyr & Røyrvik (2003) have explained this term as "Experience bases" or "Corporate Memories".…”