Organisational blogs: benefits and challenges of implementation

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the theoretical link between blogs and organisational learning. It aims to provide a set of practical guidelines on how to overcome the challenges of implementing an organisational blog.Design/methodology/approachA literature review will be used to examine blogs and their association towards organisational learning and an illustration of how one company reacted to using blogs will be provided.FindingsIt was discovered that implementing blogs within organisations can present challenges that might be overcome through properly informing and educating staff about their organisational benefits. A set of guidelines is presented as an implementation checklist for companies considering using internal blogs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper does not examine the adoption of blog use within multiple organisations but reflects on the challenges of running blogs in one specific organisation. The problems identified might not apply to all types of organisations. Further research will be required to determine this.Practical implicationsThe paper provides a set of guidelines that allows organisations to assess whether blogging is right for them and suggests steps to take that can stimulate an organisational blogging culture.Originality/valueThe paper offers practical advice and guidelines that help management to overcome difficulties associated with the introducing of organisational blogs internally. The paper provides a novel academic perspective in which organisational blogs might not be as straightforward to implement as argued in the literature.

Knowledge management, organisational learning and memory in UK retail network planning

“…As such, codification mechanisms may not provide a rich medium for communication (Daft & Huber, 1987). More recently the development of such techniques as webcasting and blogs offer opportunities for making tacit knowledge explicit using more accessible media (Baxter, Connolly, & Stansfield, 2010). Table 2 summarises the knowledge sharing and retention mechanisms within location planning, according to our respondents.…”

Many Voices: Building a Biblioblogosphere in Ireland

“…As the participants in the study were all already bloggers, some of the challenges that typically surface around the initial use of a new technology and learning how to set-up and maintain a blog (Baxter et al, 2010) were not an issue. However, it is striking that ten of the twelve participants all cited time pressures as a primary challenge associated with blogging.…”

Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference - Synthesis 2015

“…Persons who are writing blogs are called bloggers. They (Baxter et al 2010) can use blogs to reflect on their personal experience or actions and by doing so they are actually sharing tacit knowledge. Blog are contents creation centered and allow communities to be formed around them.…”

“…These systems (Opačić et al 2013) help organizations to find their experts more easily in order to enhance knowledge sharing and collaboration and allow formation of virtual communities of practice. Blogs and micro blogs are Web 2.0 technologies (Baxter et al 2010) that allow logging of important events. Word blog itself comes from two words -web and log-thus indicating a web diary of the user.…”