Wiki as a Knowledge Management Tool, Research Paper Example

The technology of collaborative work on certain knowledge management systems, databases and data compilations has appeared in the world of the Internet solutions only recently. It acquired its name of ‘wiki’ from a Hawaiian word ‘quick’, and it clearly communicates the very idea of utilizing a wiki system by many users (Raman, 2006). A wiki is an application that can be used by several users; it is easily editable and helps solve the information coordination issues. A wiki may appear both in the form of the web page and an editable document, hence giving multiple opportunities for alterations for authorized users (Wikis in Plain English, 2008). The idea of using wikis as an encyclopedic tool has already been successfully introduced in the form of a Wikipedia, but it not the limit of using the wikis in everyday life, both in studies and in business, for pleasure and informational coordination.

There is a set of advantages offered by the wiki technology both for professional and amateur users. The underlying principle of wikis used in business at the present period of time is knowledge management described in the article of Gonzalez-Reinhart (2005); the author emphasizes its role in ensuring the continuous transition and enrichment of knowledge within an organization despite the commonplace resistance it often witnesses. The main functions of knowledge management are seen in the “formation, communication and utilization of knowledge” (Gonzalez-Reinhart, 2005). The commonly used benefit of the technology is in the essence of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing, which has usually been neglected in the conditions of modern business.

As it can be seen from the video Knowledge Harvest, the problem of knowledge management is actually much more topical than one could have thought; the fact that people change their jobs because of lack of loyalty towards their firm, and the huge expenses resulting from the lick of information, expertise and training makes managers of great numbers of enterprises think of the possible solutions to the problem (Knowledge Harvest, n.d.). The most productive ones are commonly seen in knowledge management, the most cost-effective variant of which is the open source system allowing greater customization, quicker performance improvements etc. (Gonzalez-Reinhart, 2005). Hence, wikis have a great number of benefits for studies, business people and followers who are likely to follow the trend of open source knowledge management systems.

It might be necessary to stop on the set of benefits that wikis offer to various sets of users, namely an individual, a group of colleagues, and other users that are likely to feel the wish to follow the lead. On an individual level (e.g., education – open sharing of materials) the wikis may allow the user to share his or her ideas on the studied subject, introduce new subtopics and explore them in the open, editable way, so that other people could add some more features to the individual understanding of the topic and contribute to the fullest picture of the subject. It is true that the truth is born in the process of debating, so open source systems allowing alterations and changes, improvements and editing, offer a great change to achieve the commonly shared and supported result.

As for the business environment, or an environment of any other group of colleagues (in education as well), a wiki may serve a good source of communicating and coordinating information. As shown in the video Wikis in Plain English, wikis offer tremendous opportunities in information coordination without numerous e-mails, which saves time and allows the participants to reach a consensus on a group project much quicker than in dual communication offered by e-mails (Wikis in Plain English, 2008). The last example, the followers who are certain to join the knowledge management process, will benefit from wikis in seeing how much has already been done, and what else needs to be added or improved, therefore participating in the continuous process of information accumulation and sharing.

References

Gonzalez-Reinhart, J. (2005). Wikis and the Wiki Way: Beyond a Knowledge Management Solution. Information Systems Research Center. C.T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston, pp. 1-22.

Knowledge Harvest – Powered by Synaptis (2010). YouTube Online. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7y_gIFvD-xw

Raman, M. (2006). Wiki Technology as a “Free” Collaborative Tool within an Organizational Setting. Information Systems Management (Fall 2006), pp. 59-66.

Wikis in Plain English (2008). Yahoo Video Online. Retrieved September 22, 2010, from http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/2386450/7443818