Browse Books

Reviewer: Charles William Bash

This is a collection of papers on knowledge management. The editors provide introductions to each section to provide context for the included papers, and the editors have selected papers that complement each other well. In fact, the book reads as if it was written at one sitting, rather than assembled after the fact. The reader needs to be aware, however, that one paper does not necessarily build on another. There are three sections in the book: "Overview and Background" (three papers), "Studies of Expertise Sharing in Organizations" (five papers), and "Exploring Technology for Sharing Expertise" (seven papers). The size of the last section might suggest to the reader that technology will once more provide the silver bullet that is going to solve the problems of their organization's sharing difficulties. In fact, quite the contrary is true (although it may be of some assistance): in the very first paper, Pamela Hinds and Jeffrey Pfeffer state "We believe that expertise is largely tacit and embedded in the context in which it is being used." So, while technology may assist, the first tasks to be addressed are those of removing the organization's efforts to defeat information sharing (all unintentional, but there), and putting in place activities that will encourage information sharing. This book also suggests that because of the usage context problem Hinds and Pfeffer state so well, "experts" cannot really teach "beginners." Efforts should be made to make sure the "experts share within themselves" to prevent geographic and organizational "islands." If your organization intends to document its internal knowledge, that documentation will best come from those who are in the process of learning that knowledge (neophytes in their job, but probably not neophytes in the company). This excellent source text is recommended reading for those who care about organizational knowledge management. Online Computing Reviews Service

Reviewer: Frank Land

The editors of this book have drawn on the world-wide “community of practice” working in the fields of knowledge management, computer-supported cooperative work, computer-supported cooperative learning, and organizational learning, to commission papers from university researchers, research centers in major industrial companies, and consultants, to describe ongoing research, experiments, implementations, and underlying ideas on sharing expertise. The perspective taken in this book is that knowledge sharing is a social act, rooted in social behavior, but using technology as a facilitating agent. The emphasis is on personal conduct, informal relationships, the need for conversation, and the extent to which the expertise to be shared is tacit. The perspective taken can be said to be broadly sociotechnical, and as the editors claim, the book reflects state-of-the-art thinking and practice. The book is presented in three parts. Part 1 sets out the perspective which underlies the selection of papers, and reviews the literature. Its three chapters set the tone for the rest of the book. Part 2 provides case studies, and discusses these in the context of the perspectives defined in Part 1. It is made up of five chapters. Part 3 presents a number of specific expertise-sharing system designs, largely written by the designers themselves. Individual chapters describe experimental implementations, and attempt at least preliminary evaluations of outcomes. This part is made up of seven chapters. It is impossible in a review of this size and type to review and critique each chapter, though most chapters deserve a more detailed treatment; there is much to admire and to discuss, but also to criticize, in the individual chapters. Here, I can provide only an overview. Chapters 1 and 2 provide important baselines for students entering this field. Chapter 1 defines some of the problems encountered when attempting to implement knowledge support systems based on archives and databases. Chapter 2 warns us about falling into either the “technology trap” or the “management trap,” and suggests the lack of penetration of much of what has been done to date is the result of forgetting the traps. Chapter 3 is more simplistic, and perhaps falls into the technology trap itself. All the case studies in Part 2 make useful and interesting points, and describe very different situations. The first case is concerned with a new strategy and policy unit for information systems set up in an Australian state government. It is a community of practice that is only just beginning to take shape. Another case deals with a confederation of freelance consultants, working under one brand name. How can they support each other__?__ Chapter 8 describes the implementation of knowledge management systems for a major industrial enterprise. The study is interesting, but a few years ago many of the requirements would have found not dissimilar solutions under the label of “total quality management.” Few of the systems described in Part 2 have been formally evaluated in terms of user adoption, user satisfaction, or value added. The experiments and designs discussed in Part 3 are interesting. Again, they take place in a very wide range of environments, ranging from the narrow focus of a newsroom, described in chapter 10, to the much more varied environment of IBM research, in chapter 12. Not all of the experiments described have an effective experimental design. For example, chapter 15 describes a system (OWL) implemented as an experiment at the MITRE corporation. Early results suggest that the system, basically simple in concept, but costly in implementation, has failed to change users’ behavior patterns. Did the author test some of his assumptions of user behavior and user perception before launching into implementation__?__ What surprised me was that from a socially oriented perspective, the book seemed to almost totally ignore the political aspects of organizational behavior, which are critical to an understanding of knowledge and expertise sharing. Little account was taken in the design and experiments and discussions of the effect of the instrumental nature of information and knowledge, or of the different roles and relationships that exist in organizations. The expertise sharing behavior in master and servant relationships is likely to be very different to that in a master/apprentice relationship, or in an equal peer structure. My other concern was that few, if any, of the experiments had built into them a formal evaluation framework. It almost seemed as if evaluation was an afterthought. Nevertheless, I liked this book and found it thought-provoking. It would make an excellent book for advanced students and researchers in the field. Less experienced students, third year undergraduates, and first year master’s students could also benefit from studying this research-based book, provided their supervisor provided the necessary critique. I found it a refreshing and continuously interesting read. Online Computing Reviews Service