Wikis as knowledge management systems: issues and challenges

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and examine the major issues and challenges that impact the implementation of wikis as KMS. Wikis have been referred to as next generation KMS, providing an alternative to traditional knowledge management systems by addressing many of their limitations. However, research shows that there are cases where wikis have failed to achieve this potential. Further research on the range of issues and challenges surrounding the implementation of wikis in the corporate environment is required in order to enable organizations manage them more effectively and reap maximum benefits.Design/methodology/approachThis paper begins by providing a review of previously published empirical studies on wiki deployment in organizations. The disparate discussions are then synthesised by identifying the major issues and challenges in wiki implementation.FindingsSix major issues and challenges are identified including lack of a clear purpose for the wiki, wiki usability, integrating wikis into established work practices, social issues, role of management and organizational culture that supports knowledge sharing and collaboration.Originality/valueIt is posited that in order for organizations to successfully implement wikis, it is necessary to first understand the issues and challenges surrounding wiki implementation. This paper contributes to practice by identifying the key issues and challenges in the implementation of wikis and suggesting strategies for using wikis to manage knowledge effectively. Building on this review, we critically analyse the findings and propose a model for the implementation of wikis which addresses these issues and identifies research areas that further need to be investigated.

An inner-enterprise wiki system integrated with semantic search for reuse of lesson-learned knowledge in product design

“…As an example of Web 2.0 online tools, wikis are often used collaboratively by multiple users and they have been successfully used as community websites, corporate intranets, knowledge management systems, and so on. 11–13 In product design domain, Bertoni and Chirumalla 14 explore the application of wiki to support product development efforts in a global, virtual, and cross-functional setting. Chung 15 demonstrates a project development example of wiki-based enterprise-level product design, specifically on multiple-function printer mechanism.…”

Factors affecting the use of wiki to manage knowledge in a small company

“…The literature reports an increasing use of internal wikis for effective KM (Hasan and Pfaff, 2006;Grace, 2009;Almeida and Rocha, 2011;Razmerita and Kirchner, 2011;Singh et al, 2013). However, adoption experience strongly depends on the organizational context (Jackson and Klobas, 2013) and poses specific challenges (Kiniti and Standing, 2013). In fact, together with cases of success, there are situations where wikis have failed to fulfil their potential.…”

A framework for increasing business value from social media

“…For example, in the case of wikis many different wiki software items exist (see http://www.wikimatrix.org) including open-source software such as MediaWiki, TWiki, WikiWikiWeb, and commercial solutions such as Confluence and Socialtext (Kiniti & Standing, 2013). With so many alternatives, it is important to identify the advantages and disadvantages of each.…”

“…Success is not possible without user-generated content and users' creativity (Kiniti & Standing, 2013). Low employee acceptance is the main impediment here, so it is important to understand employees' motivation for usage (Leftheriotis & Giannakos, 2014).…”