Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems (지능정보연구)

Korea Intelligent Information System Society (한국지능정보시스템학회)
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Case Study on the Enterprise Microblog Usage: Focusing on Knowledge Management Strategy

기업용 마이크로블로그의 사용행태에 대한 사례연구: 지식경영전략을 중심으로

  • Kang, Min Su (Department of Business Administration, Graduate School, KyungHee University) ;
  • Park, Arum (School of Management and The Management Research Institute, KyungHee University) ;
  • Lee, Kyoung-Jun
  • 강민수 (경희대학교 대학원 경영학과) ;
  • 박아름 (경희대학교 빅데이타 연구센터) ;
  • 이경전 (경희대학교 경영대학)
  • Received : 2014.11.10
  • Accepted : 2015.03.10
  • Published : 2015.03.31
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Abstract

As knowledge is paid attention as a new production factor that generates added value, studies continue to apply knowledge management to business environment. In addition, as ICT (Information Communication Technology) was engrafted in business environment, it leads to increasing task efficiency and productivity of individual workers. Accordingly, the way that a business achieves its goal has changed to one in which its individual members are willing to take part in the organization and share information to create new values (Han, 2003) and studies for the system and service to support such transition are carrying out. Of late, a new concept called 'Enterprise 2.0' newly appears. It is the extension of Wen 2.0 and its technology, which focus on participation, sharing and openness, to the work environment of a business (Jung, 2013). Enterprise 2.0 is being used as a collaborative tool to prop up individual creativity and group brain power by combining Web 2.0 technologies such as blog, Wiki, RSS and tag with business software (McAfee, 2006). As Tweeter gets popular, Enterprise Microblog (EMB), which is an example of Enterprise 2.0 for business, has been developed as equivalent to Tweeter in business circle and SaaS (Software as a Service) such as Yammer was introduced The studies of EMB mainly focus on demonstrating its usability in terms of intra-firm communication and knowledge management. However existing studies lean too much towards large-sized companies and certain departments, rather than a company as a whole. Therefore, few studies have been conducted on small and medium-sized companies that have difficulty preparing separate resources and supplying exclusive workforce to introduce knowledge management. In this respect, the present study placed its analytic focus on small-sized companies actually equipped with EMB to know how they use it. And, based on the findings, this study examined their knowledge management strategies for EMB from the point of codification and personalization. Hypothesis -"as a company grows, it shifts EMB strategy from codification to personalization'- was established on the basis of reviewing precedent studies and literature. To demonstrate the hypothesis, this study analyzed the usage of EMB by small companies that have used it from foundation. For case study, the duration of the use was divided into 2 spans and longitudinal analysis was employed to examine the contents of the blogs. Using the key findings of the analysis, this study is aimed to propose practical implications for the operation of knowledge management of small-sized company and the suitable application of knowledge management system for operation Knowledge Management Strategy can be classified by codification strategy and personalization strategy (Hansen et. al., 1999), and how to manage the two strategies were always studied. Also, current studies regarding the knowledge management strategy were targeted mostly for major companies, resulting in lack of studies in how it can be applied on SMEs. This research, with the knowledge management strategy suited for SMEs, sets an Enterprise Microblog (EMB), and with the EMB applied on SMEs' Knowledge Management Strategy, it is reviewed on the perspective of SMEs' Codification and Personalization Strategies. Through the advanced research regarding Knowledge Management Strategy and EMB, the hypothesis is set that "Depending on the development of the company, the main application of EMB alters from Codification Strategy to Personalization Strategy". To check the hypothesis, SME that have used the EMB called 'Yammer' was analyzed from the date of their foundation until today. The case study has implemented longitudinal analysis which divides the period when the EMBs were used into three stages and analyzes the contents. As the result of the study, this suggests a substantial implication regarding the application of Knowledge Management Strategy and its Knowledge Management System that is suitable for SME.

지식경영전략은 코드화(Codification) 전략과 대인화(Personalization) 전략으로 대별할 수 있으며(Hansen et al., 1999), 성공적인 지식경영의 도입과 활용을 위한 두 전략의 운영 방안에 대한 연구가 계속되어 왔다. 그리고 지식경영 시스템에 대한 기존 연구는 주로 대기업의 일부 조직에서 활용한 사례를 대상으로 하고 있어, 중소 규모의 기업 전체를 대상으로 하는 연구는 미비한 실정이다. 본 논문은 중소 규모의 기업에 적합한 지식경영 시스템으로 기업용 마이크로블로그를 특정하고, 기업용 마이크로블로그를 활용한 중소기업의 지식경영전략을 코드화 전략과 대인화 전략의 관점에서 검토한다. 지식경영전략과 기업용 마이크로블로그에 대한 선행연구를 통하여 "기업의 성장에 따라 기업용 마이크로블로그의 활용은 코드화 전략에서 대인화 전략 중심으로 변화한다"는 가설을 설정하였다. 이 가설을 확인하기 위하여 창업 초기부터 현재까지 '야머'(Yammer)라는 기업용 마이크로블로그를 사용하고 있는 소규모 기업을 대상으로 사례연구를 진행하였다. 사례연구는 기업용 마이크로블로그의 사용 기간을 창업 '초기', 현재의 조직 형태를 갖추게 된 '중기', 그리고 연구가 진행된 '현재' 등 세 시점으로 나누고 콘텐츠를 분석하는 종단 분석을 실시하였다. 그리고 각 시점별 야머에 등록된 콘텐츠의 커뮤니케이션 유형을 분석하여 사례기업의 기업용 마이크로블로그 사용행태를 분석하고, 지식경영전략의 변화를 확인하는 방법을 사용하였다. 연구의 결과로 소규모 기업에서 지식경영전략의 운영과 그에 적합한 지식경영 시스템의 활용에 대한 실질적인 시사점을 제시하고자 한다.

Keywords

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