In many of the sources I have researched and other KM documents they point to trust and reciprocity for major reasons to transfer knowledge. In the ever increasing technological world I would argue that the people who would like to transfer knowledge are losing face. When communicating through email or other technological device many times people see that they are communicating with a computer not the person behind the computer. It has been discussed in class that knowledge is more likely to be transferred in a face-to-face interaction. This leads me to question whether the ever increasing capabilities of technology will eventually decrease knowledge sharing because of ones dependence on technology? Are people willing to trust a machine as they do people? Do we have greater ability to transfer and store knowledge but more reluctance to do so? Just something to think about…
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April 22, 2008 at 6:31 am
dougcornelius
In a small organization you can get away with just face-to-face knowledge transfer. That does not scale up to a larger organizations where you cannot count on bumping into everyone at the water cooler (one of the best knowledge sharing locations).
The key it associating information posted with an actual person. This differs from the wikipedia allowance of anonymous edits and other external sites where you use a handle instead of your real name (chadlane?).
Inside the organization, the knowledge you produce and share is always going to be associated with you. Not a handle.
If the technology makes you feel that you are communicating with a computer, then that is a User Interface or design failure. The software should make it feel like you are sharing with real people.