DIGITAL GENRE: a MECHANISM for KNOWLEDGE SHARING and REUSE in BUSINESS CLUSTERS a Thesis Submitted to the Victoria University Of
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DIGITAL GENRE: A MECHANISM FOR KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND REUSE IN BUSINESS CLUSTERS By María Eugenia Molina Barrantes A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Information Systems Management VICTORIA UNIVERSITY OF WELLINGTON 2008 i This thesis is dedicated to my parents Maru and Julio Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge transfer mechanisms in project bidding for two business clusters in New Zealand, and how ICT played a role in facilitating a "virtual space" for sharing and re-use of these mechanisms. Genre Systems was the theoretical framework adopted to guide this inquiry and to build on further theory. Within the context of this study, genres are the knowledge transfer mechanisms that communicate information and knowledge to members of the community, following specific social rules. The genres and the way they are being employed contribute towards explaining how knowledge is shared and reused by a community. Action research methodology was used to direct data collection and analysis, and validate how the study was carried out. The study comprised of one action research cycle, which has been divided in five stages: Diagnosis, Planning, Development, Evaluation, and Specifying Learning. Mapping the clusters’ collaborative interactions during project bidding helped to identify the knowledge transfer mechanisms. This allowed the identification of an ICT solution that could improve project bidding, and identification of how this knowledge could be stored for reuse in future bids. One of the clusters decided to work together with the researcher towards the design of a new portal to address their project bidding needs. The portal took six iterations to complete and went live in November 2005. A database, several “digital genres ” ( since these genres exist in an electronic medium), and some procedures were created to facilitate knowledge transfer for the cluster’s project bidding process . The team had the opportunity to reflect on the whole experience, identify potential features and genres to incorporate in the portal, and start thinking how they could improve the development process in future interventions. The introduction of ICT encouraged the cluster to develop digital genres that were more dynamic and flexible than the ones used before then. The main finding of the study is a five-step process to create digital genres based on the activities carried out by the team: finding reference points for the digital genre; defining the social rules for the digital genre; embedding the social rules in the template; testing the template; and legitimising the digital genre. Further findings discussed the “natural” and “induced” ways for a cluster to increase its knowledge-base. The first instance takes place during the normal practices of cluster members working together towards business opportunities over a period of time, whereas the later instance is triggered by a specific event or initiative. In this study, the decision by the cluster to introduce website and database technology to assist in managing their knowledge-base provided an opportunity to explore the role of ICT in increasing the cluster’s knowledge -base. Final findings showed that a project of this nature not only has to overcome the common IT development challenges (budget, project management, user buy-in), but also those derived from working with a team of volunteer people from different organisations, such as in the case of a cluster. i ii Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge Natural Hazards New Zealand (NHNZ) and Earthquake Engineering New Zealand (EENZ) business clusters for agreeing to be the subjects of this study, and for letting me become part of their community over three years. I am very grateful to the Executives of both clusters for granting me their consent to name the clusters in my thesis. Being able to disclose the identity of the clusters has allowed me to provide a richer context and hence gives major credibility to the study. My thanks also go to members of the Website and Content Task Groups who participated in the intervention stages of this study, which led to a successful launch of the portal for NHNZ in November 2005. In particular, I would like to express my appreciation to NHNZ Co-chairs and the Facilitator for their leadership and enthusiasm, which ensured the completion of the project. The assistance from Positively Wellington Business – the then Wellington ’s regional economic development agency – in introducing me to NHNZ and EENZ is also acknowledged. I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Professor Pak Yoong for his guidance, mentorship, and friendship throughout this academic journey. He is very passionate about how ICT can facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among groups in the business environment, and thus he understood my aspiration to carry out research where I could work closely with practitioners. Being an experienced action researcher in the Information Systems domain, Professor Yoong made sure I did not fall into the “trap ” of focusing too much on solving the practical problem and not contributing to the enhancement of knowledge, or vice versa. During my studies I formed part of a small PhD Study Group at the School of Information Management. The PhD Study Group was a forum where we shared experiences about our doctoral research. I extend my appreciation to my fellow students who were part of this community for their enthusiasm in developing knowledge about doing qualitative research. I am grateful to the School of Information Management (SIM) of Victoria University of Wellington. SIM provided me with office space, printing, and photocopying facilities to assist in the writing of this thesis. SIM academic and administrative staff was always welcoming and helpful. For many years SIM was my second home. I would like to acknowledge the financial support for three years of my studies granted by Victoria University of Wellington through their Scholarship Programme. I extend my gratitude to my employer, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, for granting me time from work to complete the writing of this thesis. My thanks also go to my previous manager Mr Rob Johnston, my current manager Mr Tony Charles, and fellow work colleagues Dr Noel Trustrum and Dr Hannah Brackley for their constant encouragement. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the immense support and love that I received from my family in New Zealand and in Costa Rica. I am grateful to my husband David, who not only looked after me during my student years, but also patiently proof-read many drafts of this thesis. iii Table of contents Abstract, i Acknowledgements, ii Table of contents, iii List of tables, viii Table of figures, ix Chapter 1: Introduction, 1 1.1. Statement of the problem, 1 1.2. Purpose of the study, 2 1.3. The research questions, 2 1.4. Delimitations of the study, 3 1.5. Significance of the study, 4 1.6. Organisation of the dissertation, 5 PART 1: THE RESEARCH DESIGN, 6 Chapter 2: Literature review, 7 2.1. The business environment, 7 2.1.1. Knowledge Economy: the “new ” paradigm, 8 2.1.2. Companies in the Knowledge Economy, 9 2.2. Clusters, 11 2.2.1. The concept of cluster in the literature, 12 2.2.2. The formation of clusters, 14 2.2.3. The composition of a cluster, 15 2.2.4. Cluster development, 17 2.2.5. The role of clusters in the Knowledge Economy, 21 2.3. Knowledge and its transfer in clusters, 22 2.3.1. The concept of knowledge, 23 2.3.2. Knowledge in clusters, 26 2.3.3. Knowledge transfer, 28 2.3.4. Two aspects of knowledge transfer: sharing and reuse, 30 2.3.4.1. Knowledge sharing, 30 2.3.4.2. Knowledge reuse, 32 2.3.5. Knowledge transfer mechanisms, 37 2.4. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), 41 2.4.1. The role of ICT in knowledge transfer, 42 2.4.2. ICT supporting knowledge transfer in clusters, 43 2.5. Formulating the study’s research questions , 45 Chapter 3: The theoretical framework, 50 3.1. The value of a theoretical framework, 50 3.2. Theoretical frameworks considered for the study, 52 3.2.1. Rolland and Chauvel’s knowledge transfer framework, 5 2 iv 3.2.2. Tallman, Jenkins, Henry and Pinch’s knowledge -base framework, 54 3.3. The genre theory framework, 56 3.4. Genre repertoire and genre systems, 59 3.5. The Genre framework in Information Systems (IS), 62 3.6. Using genre theory as the theoretical framework for this study, 65 Chapter 4: Philosophical Position and Methodology, 68 4.1. The philosophical paradigm of this study, 68 4.1.1. The philosophical paradigms in IS inquiry, 68 4.1.2. Advocacy/partici patory as the study’s philosophical paradigm, 72 4.2. Selecting the study’s research methodology, 7 3 4.3. The action research methodology, 74 4.3.1. Action research in the literature, 75 4.3.1.1. Close to context, 77 4.3.1.2. Action and change, 77 4.3.1.3. Involvement, 77 4.3.1.4. Cyclical nature, 78 4.3.1.5. Ability to address practice and theory, 81 4.3.2. Action research in information systems (IS), 82 4.3.3. Variants of action research in the IS literature, 86 4.3.4. Rationale for using action research in this study, 88 4.4. The study’s action research design, 89 4.4.1. Canonical action research as the selected stream, 89 4.4.2. The research site, 90 4.4.3. Entry to the site, 91 4.4.4. The role of the researcher, 93 4.4.5.