Activity Theory for Knowledge Management in Organisations

Current approaches to KMS (Knowledge Management Systems) tend to concentrate development mainly on technical aspects, but they ignore social organisational issues. Effective KMS design requires that the role of technologies is supporting business knowledge processes rather than storing data. CHAT (Cultural Historical Activity Theory) can be used as a theoretical model to analyse the development of knowledge management systems and knowledge sharing. Activity theory as a philosophical and crossdisciplinary framework for studying different forms of human practices is well suited for study research within a community of practice such as knowledge management in collaborative research. This chapter shows how activity theory can be used as a kernel theory for the development of a knowledge management design theory for collaborative work.

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