Can knowledge management be open source?

Abstract

As we move further into a knowledge economy where collaboration and innovation are increasingly central to organisational effectiveness, enterprises need to pay more attention to the informal networks that exist within the organisation. Wikis may provide a more appropriate knowledge management capability and environment to capture tacit knowledge. Where traditional organisational cultures see that knowledge management must be tightly protected, Wikis opt for an open source approach where knowledge is shared and distributed for innovation to continue. This paper aims to explicate more participatory organisational processes of creation, accumulation and maintenance of knowledge. It uses Activity Theory as a framework to describe the components of an activity system where a Wiki is a tool mediating employee-based knowledge management activities and thereby democratising organisational knowledge. © 2007 International Federation for Information Processing.