The Impact of social media on knowledge management within organisations

Abstract

Knowledge management is crucial to the sustainability and success of an organisation. Identifying and sourcing knowledge is critical for modern, multi-national organisations which strive for competitive advantage across multiple markets. Organisational development, change management, innovation and efficacy can all be improved through the active management of knowledge. At base level, social media provides a means for people to communicate, share information and content, interact, collaborate and foster relationships between one another and between individuals and organisations. Social media’s use within organisations is on an upward trajectory, facilitating employee interaction, collaboration and communication. Knowledge management without social media’s assistance leaves organisations with problems, such as knowledge retrieval, connecting knowledgeable individuals, knowledge retention and knowledge dissemination. Knowledge management enabled through social media, however, facilitate effective knowledge management by increasing knowledge access, creation, exchange and storage. However, these two concepts are not entirely harmonious, with challenges arising from several factors, such as data overload, protection, privacy and validity.

This study employed the interpretivist research philosophy. This allowed the researcher to investigate the phenomena under scrutiny while considering the beliefs, thoughts, feelings and experiences of the research participants through interpretation and observation. This study made use of the qualitative research approach. A case study was employed and data was collected through a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. This data was analysed in great detail, leading to the identification of emerging themes related to the phenomena under investigation. It was established that social media possesses both a positive and negative impact on knowledge management. Most employees understand knowledge management and its core concepts of knowledge generation, sharing, storage and application. However, while many understand these concepts, not all know how to put them into practice and effectively separate theoretical and practical knowledge. There are several benefits through knowledge management enabled through social media, but there are challenges and barriers limiting its sustainability and growth. The researcher contributed to the academic and business communities by providing a model, one which takes social media’s impact into consideration. The conventional Socialisation-Externalisation-Combination-Internalisation (SECI) model consists of elements which require in-person communication and others which require virtual communication, however, the enriched model illustrates that social media can facilitate all elements of the SECI model, acting as the central element for all four phases of the model.