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Management Support for Staff
Knowledge Sharing in Higher
Education Institutions
SPACE 201728th Annual SPACE Network Conference
Porto, Portugal – 27th April 2017
Niall Corcoran & Aidan Duane
“If HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times more productive.”
Lew Platt, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
• By nature:
▫ Knowledge intensive environments
• Exist to create and disseminate knowledge
▫ Teaching, learning and research activities
▫ Interaction with business and external bodies
Knowledge Sharing
Organisations can gain competitive advantage
through encouraging and promoting knowledge
sharing.
Very important in knowledge-intensive organisations,
such as public HEIs.
HEIs now need to compete in a global marketplace
Must share knowledge to gain the most from their intellectual
capital.
But do they……?
Social Media and Knowledge Sharing
Computer mediated tools that allow people to
create, share or exchange information, ideas and
media in virtual communities and networks.
Organisational applications are close to some of the
ideals of Knowledge Management.
Support group interaction towards stablishing communities.
Enable creation and sharing of content.
Can help improve collaboration and communication within
organisations.
Distinct technical features that are ideally suited for knowledge
sharing.
Fundamentally disrupting the way employees deal with
knowledge.
SM tools are the new means for sharing organisational
knowledge.
ESN alone isn’t a silver bullet for knowledge sharing…..
….staff need reasons and structure to share
Communities of Practice
Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger
(1991)
An important KM strategy
Groups of people who share a
passion for something
Loose and informal social structures
Largely voluntary entities that grow
organically
Suitable for sharing tacit knowledge
ESN and CoP
ESN can be used to create virtual
communities.
Tools that facilitate collective
intelligence…where participants are
engaged in a common goal.
The basic design principles of CoP live within
social media where members gather to
grow in knowledge and skills.
ESN support dynamic knowledge exchange
and support interaction, communication
and collaboration
Knowledge Sharing in HEIs
They don’t!
A number of studies have shown that KM
implementation and knowledge sharing in HEIs is at
a low level.
Why?
Organisational culture
Organisational structures
Bureaucratic characteristics
Divide/mistrust between faculty and support staff
(silos)
Would require substantial change of business
processes
Bureaucratic StructuresGoverning Authority
ExecutiveAcademic Councils
SubcommitteesSteering Groups
Poor service deliveryInadequate infrastructure
Not aligned with T&L
DisconnectMistrustDivide
DifferentValues &Priorities
Loose Coupling
Knowledge ManagementOrganisational culture
Knowledge sharingCommunities of PracticeWeb 2.0 (social media)
Quality service deliveryQuality infrastructure
Aligned with T&L needs
ConnectedTrust
SharedValues &Priorities
Working together
The practical problem……
Can ESN and vCoP Help?
vCoP in business have been shown to be
effective in increasing knowledge sharing
and reducing staff isolation.
ESN is seen as a key enabler for vCoP with
strong strategic potential.
ESN are useful mechanisms for creating
communities.
Can lead to corporate information structures
with the potential to bypass the rigid
bureaucracy of HEIs.
Bottom-up and organic approach.
Research Objective
The formal objective of the study
was to:
“investigate how enterprise social
networks can enable staff
knowledge sharing in virtual
communities of practice in higher
education institutions”.
Research Questions
A number of research questions have been
developed to examine the issues:
1. What are the antecedents for staff knowledge
sharing?
2. What are the dominant problems associated with
the implementation of ESN and participation in
vCoP?
3. What are the key motivators for staff to adopt the
use of ESN and participate in vCoP?
4. What are the perceived benefits of knowledge
sharing for both the organization and for staff
members?
Conceptual Model
A conceptual model was developed from the research
questions and the literature review.
Focuses on how a knowledge sharing environment can
be created by determining the antecedents and the
key motivators for staff to engage with it.
The dominant problems from both organisational and
individual perspectives are included so that they can be
managed.
The organisational and individual benefits are
determined as outputs from the model.
Research Approach
Contextual setting is Limerick Institute of Technology
Multi-campus; 7,000 students and 600 staff.
Researcher is a staff member with considerable
management and academic service.
Significant practical aspect to the study, requiring a
number of interventions that are led by the researcher.
=> Action Research is the most appropriate strategy
to adopt.
Qualitative study using:
Focus Groups
Semi-structured Interviews
Content Analysis
Reflective Journaling
Limerick Institute of Technology
7000 students600 staff
Courses and research from Levels 6 to 10
Research Approach
Adapted from Lewin’s Action Research Model (1956)
Reflective Journaling
Formalisation
Phase
Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug
Semi-structured Interviews
Content Analysis
Reflective Journaling
Pre
dic
ted
Use
Cycle 1 Cycle 2 Cycle 3
Focus Groups
Reflective Journaling
Semi-structured Interviews
Content Analysis
Initiation Phase Contagion Phase
• The AR project ran from September 2015 to August 2016.
• It had three Cycles of four months each.
• The predicted use of the ESN is based on a stages of growth model.
Key Findings
Key Findings for Management Support
…but how does this work in practice?
Interdependencies of Findings
Management Action
Understand the organisational culture.
Recognise the existence of structural and
cultural problems, and the academic/staff
divide.
Determine the benefits of an active
knowledge sharing environment.
Develop a vision for a knowledge sharing
environment.
Lead a cultural change process through
organisational strategy.
Translate strategy into policy and processes.
Provide resources.
Some problems…..
Public sector hierarchical structures
Public accountability
Media scrutiny
Transactional leadership
Operational managers
Failure to recognise and address cultural
issues
Lack of executive buy-in and sponsorship
Can be overcome through transformational
leadership and the vision and actions of
creative managers.