The Ecosystem Factor in Supporting Wiki Initiative for Knowledge Sharing in Malaysian Public Organisation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of considering the organizational ecosystem in implementing wikis for knowledge sharing.The findings suggest that a prerequisite of an effective wiki is the appreciation of the factors that make up the organizational ecosystem; technical and organizational factors are variable elements of the ecosystem that can significantly impact the wiki; and the task of re-aligning an existing wiki taking into consideration these factors can be complex.The case study was based on knowledge sharing in a public project management organization, thereby limiting the generalizability to other organizations. Organizations which are keen to adopt wiki as part of their knowledge management initiative need to contextualize their wiki initiative within the organizational context.This research contributes to extending the knowledge-base of the factors that impact the effectiveness of wikis for knowledge sharing by linking the wiki to the broader organizational factors.