Description Table of Contents Details Authors

Description

Addresses the key skills that are required in organisations in the information intensive society. The book examines the power of information behaviour on the construction of different kinds of shared knowledge and social identity in a group. An introduction to the different dimensions of social capital that is structural and cognitive, and looks at the relational aspects of information behaviour in organisations. Experiences are analysed in two different case studies - in the financial and biotechnology industries - in order to gain additional insights in how the internal organisation environment should be designed to support the development of the organisation's intellectual capital.

Key Features

  • Introduces social capital dimensions to the knowledge management framework
  • Provides empirical work on the new combination of social capital and organizational information behaviour. Two different information sharing practices are presented: a claims handling unit (routine based work) and a biotechnology firm (expert work)
  • Develops social capital measures into qualitative information research

Readership

Academics and students at all levels in library and information science, as well as information management and knowledge management practitioners and managers interested in managing information and knowledge effectively

Table of Contents

Part 1 Theories of information sharing: Information sharing in context; Patterns of sharing – enablers and barriers; Social navigation. Part 2 Two practices in information sharing: Introducing the two cases; Claims handlers; Expert organisation. Part 3 Insights into information, knowledge sharing and social capital: Dimensions of social capital in the two cases; Social capital and sharing – building structures for knowledge sharing and its management; Importance of the awareness of social capital in connection with information and knowledge sharing in today’s companies.

Details

No. of pages:
232
Language:
English
Copyright:
© 2007
Published:
Imprint:
Chandos Publishing
eBook ISBN:
9781780632018
Print ISBN:
9781843342854
Print ISBN:
9781843342847

About the author

Gunilla Widen-Wulff

Gunilla Widen-Wulff is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Finland. She has worked as a visiting researcher at Napier University, Edinburgh, 2004-05. Her teaching and research concerns information seeking, information management in business organizations, and aspects of social capital and knowledge sharing in groups and organizations. She has published several articles and papers in these areas.

Affiliations and Expertise

Åbo Akademi University, Finland
Back to top