Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What Makes Corporate Wikis Work? Wiki Affordances and Their Suitability for Corporate Knowledge Work

  • Conference paper
Book cover Design Science Research in Information Systems. Advances in Theory and Practice (DESRIST 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 7286))

Abstract

Wikis were originally intended for knowledge work in the open Internet environment, and there seems to be an inherent tension between wikis’ affordances and the nature knowledge work in organizations. The objective of this paper is to investigate how tailoring wikis to corporate settings would impact users’ wiki activity. We begin by synthesizing prior works on wikis’ design principles; identifying several areas where we anticipate high tension between wikis’ affordances and organizational work practices. We put forward five propositions regarding how changes in corporate wikis deployment procedures may impact users’ wiki activity. An empirical study in one multi-national organization tested users’ perceptions towards these propositions, revealing that in some cases there may be a need for modifying wiki’s design, while in other cases corporations may wish to change their knowledge work practices to align with wikis’ affordances.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Alavi, M., Leidner, D.E.: Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues (November 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Arazy, O., Croitoru, A.: The sustainability of corporate wikis: A time-series analysis of activity patterns. ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems (TMIS) 1(1), 6 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Arazy, O., Gellatly, I., Jang, S., Patterson, R.: Wiki deployment in corporate settings. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine 28(2), 57–64 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Arazy, O., Morgan, W., Patterson, R.: Wisdom of the crowds: Decentralized knowledge construction in Wikipedia. In: Proceedings of the 16th WITS. SSRN, Milwaukee (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Arazy, O., Nov, O., Patterson, R., Yeo, L.: Information quality in Wikipedia. Journal of Management Information Systems 27(4), 73–100 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Arazy, O., Stroulia, E., Ruecker, S., Arias, C., Fiorentino, C., Ganev, V., Yau, T.: Recognizing contributions in wikis: Authorship categories, algorithms, and visualizations. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 61, 1166–1179 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Benkler, Y.: The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom. Yale University Press (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bhattacherjee, A., Premkumar, G.: Understanding changes in belief and attitude toward information technology usage: A theoretical model and longitudinal test. MIS Quarterly 28(2), 229–254 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Bryant, S.L., Forte, A., Bruckman, A.: Becoming Wikipedian: transformation of participation in a collaborative online encyclopedia, pp. 1–10. ACM, Sanibel Island (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Burrow, A.L.: Negotiating access within wiki: a system to construct and maintain a taxonomy of access rules. Work, pp. 77–86 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cosley, D., Frankowski, D., Kiesler, S., Terveen, L., Riedl, J.: How oversight improves member-maintained communities. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2005, p. 11 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Davis, F.D.: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. Management Information Systems Quarterly 13, 319–339 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. DeSanctis, G., Gallupe, R.B.: A foundation for the study of group decision support systems. Management Science 33(5), 589–609 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Di Iorio, A., Presutti, V., Vitali, F.: WikiFactory: An Ontology-Based Application for Creating Domain-Oriented Wikis. In: Sure, Y., Domingue, J. (eds.) ESWC 2006. LNCS, vol. 4011, pp. 664–678. Springer, Heidelberg (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  15. Di Iorio, A., Zacchiroli, S.: Constrained wiki: an oxymoron? In: WikiSym 2006 Proceedings of the 2006 Intern. Symposium on Wikis, vol. 6, pp. 89–98. ACM (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Ding, X., Danis, C., Erickson, T., Kellogg, W.A.: Visualizing an enterprise wiki. In: CHI 2007 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2007, p. 2189 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Dubrovsky, V.J., Kiesler, S., Sethna, B.N.: The equalization phenomenon: Status effects in computer-mediated and face-to-face decision-making groups. Human-Computer Interaction 6(2), 119–146 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Edwards, P.: Managing Wikis in Business. University Business (September 2007)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Friedman, B., Kahn Jr., P.H., Howe, D.C.: Trust online. Communications of the ACM 43(12), 34–40 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Füller, J., Mühlbacher, H., Matzler, K., Jawecki, G.: Consumer empowerment through internet-based co-creation. Journal of Management Information Systems 26(3), 71–102 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gaver, W.W.: Affordances for interaction: the social is material for design. Ecological Psychology 8(2), 111–129 (1996)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. Gibson, J.J.: The ecological approach to visual perception, vol. 39. Houghton Mifflin (1979)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Giordano, R.: An investigation of the use of a wiki to support knowledge exchange in public health (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Grudin, J., Poole, E.S.: Wikis at work: Success factors and challenges for sustainability of enterprise wikis. In: Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration, WikiSym 2010, pp. 1–8. ACM (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Haake, A., Lukosch, S., Schümmer, T.: Wiki-templates: adding structure support to wikis on demand. Structure 65, 41–51 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Hess, M., Kerr, B., Rickards, L.: Wiki user statistics for regulating behaviour (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Hoisl, B., Aigner, W., Miksch, S.: Social Rewarding in Wiki Systems – Motivating the Community. In: Schuler, D. (ed.) HCII 2007 and OCSC 2007. LNCS, vol. 4564, pp. 362–371. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Igbaria, M., Baroudi, J.J.: The impact of job performance evaluations on career advancement prospects: An examination of gender differences in the IS workplace. MIS Quarterly 19(1), 107 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Jang, S., Arazy, O., Nov, O., Brainin, E.: “Crowding Out” in corporate wikis: the effects of job responsibility and motivation on participation. In: Proceedings of the 6th Mediterranean Confince on Information Systems (MCIS 2011), Cyprus (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Jang, S., Green, T.: Best practices on delivering a wiki collaborative solution for enterprise applications. In: 2006 International Conference on Collaborative Computing: Networkin, Applications and Worksharing, pp. 1–9. IEEE, Atlanta (2006)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  31. Jessup, L.M., Connolly, T., Galegher, J.: The effects of anonymity on GDSS group process with an idea-generating task. MIS Quarterly 14(3), 313–321 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Jung, J.H., Schneider, C., Valacich, J.: Enhancing the motivational affordance of information systems: The effects of real-time performance feedback and goal setting in group collaboration environments. Management Science 56(4), 724–742 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Kapoor, M.: Content creation by massively distributed collaboration. Tech. rep., UC Berkley School of Information, Berkeley (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Kidwell, R.E., Bennett, N.: Employee propensity to withhold effort: A conceptual model to intersect three avenues of research. Academy of Management Review 18(3), 429–456 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Kittur, A., Chi, E., Pendleton, B.A., Suh, B., Mytkowicz, T.: Power of the few vs. wisdom of the crowd: Wikipedia and the rise of the bourgeoisie. In: 25th Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, University of California, Palo Alto Research Center, University of Colorado at Boulder, pp. 1–9. ACM (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Kittur, A., Kraut, R.E.: Beyond Wikipedia: Coordination and conflict in online production groups. Communication, 215–224 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Korfiatis, N.T., Poulos, M., Bokos, G.: Evaluating authoritative sources using social networks: an insight from Wikipedia. Online Information Review 30(3), 252–262 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Lakhani, K.R., Wolf, R.G.: Why hackers do what they do: Understanding motivation and effort in free/open source software projects. In: Feller, J., Fitzgerald, B., Hissam, S.A., Lakhani, K.R. (eds.) Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software, pp. 3–21. MIT Press (2005); No. September in Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software

    Google Scholar 

  39. Landy, F.J., Becker, W.S.: Motivation theory reconsidered. Research In Organizational Behavior 9, 1–38 (1987)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Leuf, B., Cunningham, W.: The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web. Addison-Wesley Professional (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Majchrzak, A.: Comment: Where is the theory in wikis? MIS Quarterly 33(1), 18–20 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Majchrzak, A., Wagner, C., Yates, D.: Corporate wiki users: results of a survey. In: Riehle, D., Noble, J. (eds.) Proceedings of the 2006 International Symposium on Wikis, WikiSym 2006, pp. 99–104. ACM Press (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Morris, M.G., Dillon, A.: How user perceptions influence software use. IEEE Software 14(4), 58–65 (1997)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Norman, D.: The Design of Everyday Things. Doubleday, New York (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Norman, D.A.: Things that make us smart: defending human attributes in the age of the machine. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  46. O’Reilly, T.: What is web 2.0? design patterns and business models for the next generation of software (2005), http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

  47. Orlikowski, W.J., Barley, S.R.: Technology and institutions: What can research on information technology and research on organizations learn from each other? MIS Quarterly 25(2), 145–165 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Rains, S.A.: The impact of anonymity on perceptions of source credibility and influence in computer-mediated group communication: A test of two competing hypotheses. Communication Research 34(1), 100–125 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Rashid, A.M., Ling, K., Tassone, R.D., Resnick, P., Kraut, R., Riedl, J.: Motivating participation by displaying the value of contribution. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2006, p. 955 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Sabel, M.: Structuring wiki revision history. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International Symposium on Wikis, WikiSym 2007, pp. 125–130. ACM (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  51. Siegel, J., Dubrovsky, V., Kiesler, S., McGuire, T.W.: Group processes in computer-mediated communication. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 37(2), 157–187 (1986)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Stvilia, B., Twidale, M.B., Smith, L.C., Gasser, L.: Information quality work organization in Wikipedia. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 59(6), 983–1001 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Suh, B., Chi, E., Kittur, A., Pendleton, B.: Lifting the veil: Improving accountability and social transparency in Wikipedia with WikiDashboard. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI. ACM Press (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Surowiecki, J.: The Wisdom of Crowds. Random House (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, G.B., Davis, F.D.: User acceptance of information technology: Toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly 27(3), 425–478 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Viégas, F.B., Wattenberg, M., Dave, K.: Studying cooperation and conflict between authors with history flow visualizations. In: Proceedings of the 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2004, vol. 6, pp. 575–582. ACM Press (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  57. Wagner, C.: Wiki: A technology for conversational knowledge management and group collaboration. Communications of the Association for Information Systems 13(13), 265–289 (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Wagner, C.: Breaking the knowledge acquisition bottleneck through conversational knowledge management. Information Resources Management Journal 19, 70–83 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Wagner, C., Cheung, K.S.K., Ip, R.K.F., Bottcher, S.: Building semantic webs for e-government with wiki technology. Electronic Government An International Journal 3(1), 35–55 (2006)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Wagner, C., Majchrzak, A.: Enabling customer-centricity using wikis and the Wiki Way. Journal of Management Information Systems 23(3), 17–43 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Willinsky, J.: What open access research can do for Wikipedia. First Monday 12(3), 7 (2007), http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1624

    Google Scholar 

  62. Yates, D., Wagner, C., Majchrzak, A.: Factors affecting shapers of organizational wikis. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 61(3), 543–554 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  63. Zammuto, R.F., Griffith, T.L., Majchrzak, A., Dougherty, D.J., Faraj, S.: Information technology and the changing fabric of organization. Organization Science 18(5), 749–762 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Zwass, V.: Co-creation: Toward a taxonomy and an integrated research perspective. International Journal of Electronic Commerce 15(1), 11–48 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    M. Lisa Yeo & Ofer Arazy

Authors
  1. M. Lisa Yeo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ofer Arazy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Information Systems, University of Nevada, 4505 S. Maryland Pkwy, 89514, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    Ken Peffers  & Marcus Rothenberger  & 

  2. Information Systems /026, University of Nevada, 1664 N. Virginia Street, 89557-0208, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Bill Kuechler

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Yeo, M.L., Arazy, O. (2012). What Makes Corporate Wikis Work? Wiki Affordances and Their Suitability for Corporate Knowledge Work. In: Peffers, K., Rothenberger, M., Kuechler, B. (eds) Design Science Research in Information Systems. Advances in Theory and Practice. DESRIST 2012. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 7286. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29863-9_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29863-9_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-29862-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-29863-9

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation