Investigating the exploitation of web 2.0 for knowledge management in the Greek tourism industry: An utilisation-importance analysis

The paper investigates the role of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and specifically of the web 2.0 in supporting knowledge management (KM) processes. A literature review analyses how the web 2.0 transforms the implementation of KM by supporting conversational and collaborative KM processes that in turn divert KM from a technology-centric to a people-centric approach. The discussion also reveals how different ways of exploiting web 2.0 reflect different levels of technology supported KM practices. The study also investigated the type and the level of web 2.0 exploitation for KM purposes in the Greek tourism industry by collecting empirical data from tourism professionals. The data was analysed by performing an utilisation-importance analysis that compared data measuring the actual utilisation of web 2.0 with the perceived utilisation importance of web 2.0 for KM purposes. The analysis identified several gaps and opportunities in relation to web 2.0 exploitation for KM purposes. The paper concludes by providing practical and theoretical implications for enhancing the exploitation of web 2.0 for KM purposes.

[1]  R. McDermott.  Why Information Technology Inspired but Cannot Deliver Knowledge Management , 1999 .

[2]  D. Leonard,et al.  The Role of Tacit Knowledge in Group Innovation , 1998 .

[3]  Jennifer Rowley,et al.  From learning organisation to knowledge entrepreneur , 2000, J. Knowl. Manag..

[4]  Charles Abiodun Robert,et al.  Annotation for knowledge sharing in a collaborative environment , 2009, J. Knowl. Manag..

[5]  Susan M. Land,et al.  Theoretical Foundations of Learning Environments. , 1999 .

[6]  M. Sigala,et al.  Information Sharing and Knowledge Creation in Online Forums: The Case of the Greek Online Forum ‘DIALOGOI’ , 2008 .

[7]  Varun Grover,et al.  General Perspectives on Knowledge Management: Fostering a Research Agenda , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[8]  Tom Butler,et al.  From data to knowledge and back again: understanding the limitations of KMS , 2003 .

[9]  M. Polanyi.  The Logic of Tacit Inference , 1966, Philosophy.

[10]  J. Crotts,et al.  Travel Blogs and the Implications for Destination Marketing , 2007 .

[11]  Samer Faraj,et al.  Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice , 2005, MIS Q..

[12]  Marc J. Rosenberg,et al.  E-Learning: Strategies for Delivering Knowledge in the Digital Age , 2000 .

[13]  Gordon I. McCalla,et al.  Applying Collaborative Tagging to E-Learning , 2007 .

[14]  Marianna Sigala,et al.  Improving performance through tacit knowledge externalisation and utilisation: Preliminary findings from Greek hotels , 2007 .

[15]  Constance E. Helfat,et al.  Reviews: Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy, Max Boisot , 1999 .

[16]  Andrew Terrett,et al.  Knowledge Management and the Law Firm , 1998, J. Knowl. Manag..

[17]  A. Poon.  Tourism, Technology and Competitive Strategies , 1993 .

[18]  Curtis J. Bonk,et al.  DOES SENSE OF COMMUNITY MATTER? an Examination of Participants' Perceptions of Building Learning Communities in Online Courses , 2007 .

[19]  Ricarda B. Bouncken,et al.  Knowledge Management for Quality Improvements in Hotels , 2002 .

[20]  G. Krogh.  Care in Knowledge Creation , 1998 .

[21]  Lisa Ruhanen,et al.  Developing a knowledge management approach to tourism research. , 2003 .

[22]  T. Houy,et al.  ICT and lean management : Will they ever get along? : ICT usability to usages , 2007 .

[23]  H. Tsoukas,et al.  What is Organizational Knowledge , 2001 .

[24]  Ruimin Shen,et al.  Why web 2.0 is good for learning and for research: principles and prototypes , 2008, WWW.

[25]  M. Lynne Markus,et al.  Toward A Theory of Knowledge Reuse : Types of Knowledge Reuse Situations and Factors in Reuse Success , 2022 .

[26]  Jacques Bulchand-Gidumal,et al.  Intentions to use social media in organizing and taking vacation trips , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[27]  Toyoaki Nishida,et al.  A traveling conversation model for dynamic knowledge interaction , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[28]  David R. Karger,et al.  What would it mean to blog on the semantic web? , 2005, J. Web Semant..

[29]  Thomas H. Davenport,et al.  Book review:Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know. Thomas H. Davenport and Laurence Prusak. Harvard Business School Press, 1998. $29.95US. ISBN 0‐87584‐655‐6 , 1998 .

[30]  Marianna Sigala,et al.  Using and measuring the impacts of geovisualisation on tourism education: the case of teaching a service management course. , 2013 .

[31]  Einar Marnburg,et al.  Knowledge management in the hospitality industry: A review of empirical research , 2008 .

[32]  Daniel Palacios Marqués,et al.  The effect of knowledge management practices on firm performance , 2006, J. Knowl. Manag..

[33]  M. Sigala.  Social networks and customer involvement in new service development (NSD): the case of www.mystarbucksidea.com. , 2012 .

[34]  Marianna Sigala,et al.  Staff turnover in the Greek tourism industry: A comparison between insular and peninsular regions , 2010 .

[35]  Sue Newell,et al.  Limits of IT-driven knowledge management initiatives for interactive innovation processes: towards a community-based approach , 2000, Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[36]  John A. Martilla,et al.  Importance-Performance Analysis , 1977 .

[37]  I. Nonaka,et al.  A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: a new perspective on the theory of the firm , 2000 .

[38]  Chris Cooper,et al.  Knowledge management and tourism. , 2004 .

[39]  Jen-te Yang,et al.  Advancing organizational effectiveness and knowledge management implementation. , 2004 .

[40]  C. Jackson.  Process to product: creating tools for knowledge management , 2001 .

[41]  P. O'Connor.  Managing a Hotel's Image on TripAdvisor , 2010 .

[42]  Roger E. Bohn,et al.  Chapter 17 – Measuring and Managing Technological Knowledge , 1998 .

[43]  J. Swan,et al.  Knowledge Management: Concepts and Controversies , 2001 .

[44]  G. Krogh,et al.  The Epistemological Challenge: Managing Knowledge and Intellectual Capital , 1996 .

[45]  Laurence Prusak,et al.  Managing Information Strategically , 1993 .

[46]  E. Kelloway,et al.  Predictors of employees’ perceptions of knowledge sharing cultures , 2003 .

[47]  Richard J. Boland,et al.  Knowledge management technology and the reproduction of knowledge work practices , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[48]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[49]  Min Zheng,et al.  Experimental Study of a Self-Tuning Algorithm for DBMS Buffer Pools , 2005, J. Database Manag..

[50]  M. Boisot.  Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy , 1998 .

[51]  Brian T. Pentland,et al.  Information systems and organizational learning: The social epistemology of organizational knowledge systems , 1995 .

[52]  Carla O'Dell,et al.  If Only We Knew What We Know , 1998 .

[53]  A. P. Rovai.  Sense of community, perceived cognitive learning, and persistence in asynchronous learning networks , 2002, Internet High. Educ..

[54]  Tai-Kuei Yu,et al.  Exploring factors that influence knowledge sharing behavior via weblogs , 2010, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[55]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  Breaking the Myths of Rewards: An Exploratory Study of Attitudes about Knowledge Sharing , 2002, Inf. Resour. Manag. J..

[56]  G. Walsham.  Knowledge Management:: The Benefits and Limitations of Computer Systems , 2001 .

[57]  Murray E. Jennex,et al.  What is Knowledge Management , 2012 .

[58]  C. Wagner,et al.  Supporting knowledge management in organizations with conversational technologies: Discussion forums, weblogs, and wikis , 2005 .

[59]  Leif Edvinsson,et al.  Some perspectives on intangibles and intellectual capital 2000 , 2000 .

[60]  David C. Arnott,et al.  Priorities in services marketing , 1991 .

[61]  Nigel Slack,et al.  The Importance‐Performance Matrix as a Determinant of Improvement Priority , 1994 .

[62]  G. Currie,et al.  The Limits of a Technological Fix to Knowledge Management , 2004 .

[63]  Atreyi Kankanhalli,et al.  Contributing Knowledge to Electronic Knowledge Repositories: An Empirical Investigation , 2005, MIS Q..

[64]  Jo Rhodes,et al.  Factors influencing organizational knowledge transfer: implication for corporate performance , 2008, J. Knowl. Manag..

[65]  Marianna Sigala,et al.  eCRM 2.0 applications and trends: The use and perceptions of Greek tourism firms of social networks and intelligence , 2011, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[66]  Ramkrishnan V. Tenkasi,et al.  Designing Information Technology to Support Distributed Cognition Ceo Publication G 93-16 (236) Designing Information Technology to Support Distributed Cognition Designing Information Technology to Support Distributed Cognition , 1994 .

[67]  Liam Fahey,et al.  The Eleven Deadliest Sins of Knowledge Management , 1998 .

[68]  Hengdong Yang,et al.  Knowledge sharing in an organization , 2008 .

[69]  Michael H. Zack,et al.  Managing Codified Knowledge , 1999 .

[70]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Knowledge Creating Company , 2008 .

[71]  E. Clemons.  Using Scenario Analysis to Manage the Strategic Risks of Reengineering , 1995 .

[72]  Simon S. Lam,et al.  Protocol Design for Dynamic Delaunay Triangulation , 2007, 27th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems (ICDCS '07).

[73]  B. Seely,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice , 1991 .

[74]  H. Scarbrough.  Knowledge management, HRM and the innovation process , 2003 .