1. Social Media as a Form of
Knowledge Sharing
Using Web 2.0 in internal communications – what should
organizations consider?
Johanna Wahlroos
Johanna.wahlroos@helsinki.fi

2. Introduction
• The topic of this presentation is social media and knowledge sharing. The
objective is to discuss how social media is used in internal communications
• The topic is limited to those Web 2.0 tools that organizations provide as
functions of the internal communication (internal wikis, blogs, profile pages
etc.)
• One of the most central challenge is to get employees motivated to share their
expertise with the aid of internal social media tools
• This presentation focuses on the factors affecting employees knowledge
sharing behaviour. Based on the research tradition it is argumented, how
organizations can improve conditions for the use of social media
The presentation is based on the author’s Master’s Thesis (Wahlroos 2010)
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 2

3. Why knowledge sharing is important?
• Employees and their expertise can be considered as the key asset of any
organization
• In order to improve their productivity organizations should aim at internal
knowledge sharing
• Nevertheless, studies have demonstrated that people are not always
willing to share their knowledge to their colleagues
Organizations should recognize the factors affecting employees
and aimt at improving the conditions for knowledge sharing
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 3

4. How is social media connected with knowledge sharing?
• Social media has been pointed out as one of the most promising innovation
in relation to knowledge sharing
• Many organizations that use social media in internal communication
consider the low activity of the employees as the biggest challenge
• Therefore the organizations should be able to provide an encouraging
environment for the use of social media and knowledge sharing
Ks. Ardichvili et al. 2003; Paroutis & Al Saleh 2009; Tohidinia and Mosakhani 2010; Wahlroos 2010; Zhang et al. 2009
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 4

5. What does knowledge sharing mean?
• Knowledge sharing can be considered as
- Knowledge donating
- Knowledge collecting
• Knowledge sharing can include the
exchange of information, ideas, opinions
and expertise
Social media on the other hand can be considered as
tools which enable knowledge sharing
Ks. Bartol & Srivastava 2002, 65; Van Den Hooff & De Ridder 2004; Wahlroos 2010, 17
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 5

6. Employees and knowledge sharing
• What factors affect employees behavior?
Personal Factors
Organizational Technological
Factors Factors
Knowledge
Sharing
• The factors can be divided in three groups: personal,
organizational and technological factors
Ks. Connelly & Kelloway 2003; Lin 2007, 317; Paroutis & Al Saleh 2009; Tohidinia and Mosakhani 2010; Wahlroos 2010, 28
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 6

7. Employees and social media
• The same model of the influencing factors has been
considered in relation to the use of social media in internal
communication
Personal Factors
Technological Factors
Organizational Factors
Social Media
Ks. Ardichvili et al. 2003; Paroutis & Al Saleh 2009; Tohidinia and Mosakhani 2010; Wahlroos 2010
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 7

8. Factors affecting employees
Personal factors
• What benefits or utilities employees see in the use of social media?
• Have employees used social media in their private lives?
Organizational factors
• Are managers encouraging employees to use the social media tools?
• Are the closest colleagues using social media?
• Are there organizational guidelines of how the tools should be used?
• Is the use of social media considered as part of responsibilities?
Technological factors
• How user-friendly are social media tools?
• Have the employees got good skills in using technological tools?
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 8

9. What implications have the results from organizations’
viewpoint?
! Organizations should aimt at influencing the factors that are
linked with employees’ behaviour
Personal Factors
•Benefits and utilities
Technological Factors
Organizational Factors •User-friendliness
• Managers’ and colleagues’ activeness • Skills
•Guidelines for using social media
•Understanding of own responsibilities
Social Media
By taking the personal, organizational and technological factors into consideration,
organizations have the opportunity to improve the conditions for knowledge sharing
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 9

10. Practical implications – what can organizations do?
PERSONAL FACTORS
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
• To define the benefits that are related to the use of social media
BENEFITS •The more benefits employees see in the use of social media, the more frequently
they will contribute to the Web 2.0 tools
Examples of benefits
• Facilitating working tasks
•Interacting with colleagues
•Integration into the working
community
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 10

11. Practical implications – what can organizations do?
ORGANIZATIONAL
OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
FACTORS
• To encourage managers to become active contributors
MANAGERS • The more managers are using social media, the more frequently their subordinates will
use the same tools
• To encourage employees to become active contributors
COLLEAGUES • The more employees’ colleagues are using social media, the more probably employees
will try out the tools
• To define guidelines for the use of social media
GUIDELINES
• If employees have read the guidelines for the use of social media, their use of the tools
is likely to increase
RESPONSI •To define knowledge sharing and the use of social media as part of responsibilities
BILITIES • The more social media is considered as a part of individual responsibilities, the more
frequently social media is used.
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 11

12. Practical implications – what can organizations do?
TECHNOLOGICAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONS
FACTORS
• To make sure that the social media tools are user-friendly
USER-
FRIENDLINESS • The more user-friendly social media is considered, the more frequently it is used
• To provide training and help so that everyone can learn to use social media
SKILLS • The better skills empployees have, the more often the tools are used
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 12

13. Summary
• Social media provides new channels for knowledge
sharing inside of organizations
• In order to motivate employees to share their expertise
with the aid of social media, organizations should
consider the factors affecting employees behaviour
• By taking personal, organizational, and technological
factors into consideration, organizations can improve
the conditions for knowledge sharing
Social Media as a Form of Knowledge Sharing February 2011 13

14. References
• Ardichvili, A., Page, V. & Wentling T. (2003). Motivation and barriers to participate in virtual knowledge-sharing
communities of practice. In Journal of Knowledge Management, 7 (1), 64-77.
• Bartol, K. & Srivastava, A. (2002). Encouraging knowledge sharing: the role of organizational reward systems. In
Journal of Leadership and Organization Studies, 9 (1), 64-76.
• Connelly, C. E., Kelloway, E. K. (2003), Predictors of employees' perceptions of knowledge sharing culture. In
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 24 (5), 294-301.
• Lin, H. F. (2007). Knowledge sharing and firm innovation capability: an empirical study. In International Journal of
Manpower, 28 (3), 315-332
• Paroutis A. & Al Saleh, A. (2009). Determinants of knowledge sharing using Web 2.0 technologies. In Journal of
Knowledge Management, 13 (4), 52-63.
• Tohidinia, Z. & Mosakhani, M. (2010). Knowledge sharing behaviour and its predictors. In Industrial Management &
Data Systems, 110 (4), 611-631.
• Van Den Hooff, B. & De Ridder, J. A. (2004). Knowledge sharing in context: the influence of organizational
commitment, communication climate and CMC use on knowledge sharing. In Journal of Knowledge Management, 8 (6),
117-130.
• Wahlroos*, J. (2010). Social Media as a Form of Organizational Knowledge Sharing. A Case Study on Employee
Participation at Wärtsilä. Master’s Thesis, University of Helsinki.
• Zhang, A. M., Zhu, Y. & Hildebrandt, H. (2009). Enterprise networking web sites and organizational communication in
Australia. In Business Communication Quarterly, 3, 114-119.
*Includes a larger literature review of the topic
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15. Thank you for your interest!
Johanna Wahlroos
Johanna.wahlroos@helsinki.fi