How do communication structures shape the process of knowledge transfer?
Author(s)/Editor(s): Guechtouli W
Publisher/Organizer: GREQAM Groupement de Recherche en Economie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - UMR-CNRS
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales Universités d'Aix-Marseille II et III
Publication date: December 2008
Number of pages: 11
Language: English
Overview
"Knowledge diffusion is a complex process. Knowledge is intangible and therefore is not easy to capitalize within an organization, or share between a set of individuals.
The aim of this paper is to study the impact of two different structures of communication on both processes of knowledge transfer and individual learning, in the context of a community of practice. We will specifically compare two types of communication structures (through face-to face interactions and through a forum) by using agent-based models.
Results show that each structure has a different impact on individual learning and knowledge transfer. Though, communication through face-to-face interactions seems to make individuals learn slower than on a web forum. Conclusions are widely discussed."
"What impact do structures of communication have on knowledge transfer within a community of practice?
In order to do so, we choose to compare two types of communication structures: communication through face-to-face interactions and communication through a web based forum. This paper will be structured in three parts: the first one gives a background literature on communities of practice and learning; then we will present the agent-based models in the second part. The third one is a presentation of the results, followed by discussion and concluding remarks."