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Corporate weblogs -1- Corporate weblogs - The impact of blogging on knowledge work - Dr. Stephan Kaiser Stefanie Kroth Gordon Müller-Seitz Eichstaett-Ingolstadt 2006

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Motivation of Weblogger Study, Weblogs

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Page 1: Motivation for Weblogging

Corporate weblogs - 1 -

Corporate weblogs- The impact of blogging on knowledge work -

Dr. Stephan KaiserStefanie Kroth

Gordon Müller-Seitz

Eichstaett-Ingolstadt 2006

Page 2: Motivation for Weblogging

Corporate weblogs - 2 -

Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Introduction to corporate weblogs

Central features of weblog-technologyThe term “weblog” was coined by Jorn Barger on his Robot Wisdom site in 1997. The name stems from the contraction of the words “web” and “log” and epitomizes a technology that belongs to the field of social software. Although there exists no consensus concerning the definition of weblogs and various subtypes have already emerged, some common features of the weblog-phenomenon can be recognized]. First of all, weblogs refer to a website where individual thoughts are publicly displayed in the form of a log. The site’s content is freely accessible via the Internet and no fees have to be disbursed. Inmost of the cases, a single person renders the initial content of the site. However, it is also possible that more than one personcontributes to the weblog. Moreover, a weblog is characterized by the fact that the publications occur in a reverse chronological order and periodically, although the frequency varies profoundly.

Moreover, each post (also called entry), is time-stamped and archived so that old content remains accessible. The single entries are predominantly text based and usually possess a title in the form of a large header, followed by text-fragments that are amalgamated with pictures, and often with links likewise. This is also the point, where the blogosphere becomes relevant, alluding to the fact that the entire number ofweblogs in the Internet represents a distinct media ecosystem. As a result of the interlinking, there exists a multiply intertwined network of multitudinous weblogs, i.e. the “blogosphere”.

In addition, the probably most noteworthy feature of weblogs concerns the possibility for readers to write accompanying commentaries in the designated sections that often entail vibrant discussions [Herring et al. 2005]. These conversations are analogous to the discussions that can be observed in the form of threads in the field of open-source software.

However, the most striking feature concerns the ability to establish diverse virtual references to other weblogs by means of various functions, namely blogrolls, permalinks and trackbacks. Blogrolls constitute a list of links to those weblogs the author recommends and reads frequently. These links are usually located on one side of the respective weblog and enable the reader to infer information about the preferences of the author. In contrast, single static links, called permalinks, refer to particular posts or even particular sections of a post in other weblogs or websites and emanate from a particular section within a post. Permalinks represent in this sense a modification that is closely related to the blogroll feature or the “bookmark” feature in common office software applications. In a similar vein, in- and outbound trackbacks exemplify a third form of virtual referencing, or rather, interacting. Trackbacks allow webloggers to see who has referred to his or her original post by writing a reply. This feature habitually appears below apost and shows a summary of what has been voiced on the target weblog in conjunction with the URL and name of the weblog at stake.

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Introduction to corporate weblogs

Differentiating weblogs from related technologiesFollowing the introduction of the distinctive characteristics, one ought to separate weblogs from related Internet phenomena for further clarification. First, in contrast to ordinary onlinediaries, weblogs possess the ability to be augmented with hyperlinks, permalinks or trackbacks, enabling the interlinking via the blogosphere voluntarily. Though this is a distinctive difference in many cases, the line is unfortunately quite blurred in this respect. As opposed to personal web pages (“home pages”), weblogs are ideally more often updated. Furthermore, they are usually establishing a relationship between the individual author and the person or community that reads the content of the webpage due to recurrent posts and, vice versa, visits from the readership’s point of view. Other comparable phenomena are bulletin board systems, newsgroups and chats. These are quite similar, but usually lack the ability to be interlinked. Nevertheless, they differ consistently concerning the authority to add original content. While in the other three forms the content is created jointly (i.e. symmetrically), in the case of weblogs, the content is solely creator defined (i.e. asymmetrical). As a conclusion, we assume that weblogs are not an entirely novel phenomenon. In fact, it is closely relatedto traditional Internet genres, above all, online diaries and bulleting board systems. However, weblogs can be asserted their own position in the broader genre ecology of the Internet.

Focussing upon corporate weblogsRegarding the evolution of this new phenomenon, it is worth mentioning that weblogs initially mainly consisted of entries that resembled personal online diaries. However, weblogs have nowadays moved beyond self-reflective personal or journalistic disclosures to multifaceted applications within organizational settings. The following section is an endeavor to offer a taxonomy of the various emerging manifestations of the corporate weblog-phenomenon.

In order to conceive the forms of appearance accurately, we deploy several dimensions. As an initial point, we deem it appropriate to identify the dimension target group, which can be subdivided into an internal as well as an external target group. Internal target group would then focus upon all employees, whereas external refers to stakeholders such as customers. In contrast, the content of the weblog constitutes a further dimension that can be subdivided into the aspects specific and general.

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Introduction to corporate weblogs

Concerning the employees as the internal target group, culture weblogs might proof useful to strengthen a company’s culture and corporate identity. Thereby, the content is supposed to be private and informal (i.e. general). Thus, culture weblogs wouldincur the role of an information broker, leveraging the latest rumours or conversations similar to a notice board. In contrast to this, knowledge weblogs are concentrated upon the employees as well, but their content is specific.

These weblogs also address a designated group of participants and facts prevail the content of the posts. Such quasi team-oriented knowledge weblogs might also be regarded as an analogue to communities of practice.

With regard to external target groups, stakeholder such as customers etc. can be addressed in order to strengthen the profile and reputation of the company, whereby the employees always have to expose themselves as part of the workforce of the respective corporation. Hereby, it seems striking that employees are increasingly notifying information about their experiences and progress at work publicly or in a corporate environment. This can be achieved via branding-weblogs whose content is rather general. In this case, the individual posts ofemployee might reveal insider reports about everyday occurrences at work. Collaboration-weblogs would be an alternative in so far, as their content is specific. For instance, in a corporate context this affords the opportunity of continuous one- or even many-to-many communication between employees and/or employees and customers or other stakeholders about specific tasks, services or products. When it comes to application in reality, this is the prevalent form of weblogs in a corporate context to date.

Taxonomy of company-relevant weblogs

CollaborativeExternal

Content

Culture

Target group

Internal Knowledge

Specific General

Branding

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Method, sample and objectives of the survey

Method:

Online-based questionnaire

Design: 5-point Likert-scale

Hosted by adenquire.net

Evaluation: with SPSS, a software tool for quantitative research

Sample:

Target group: Bloggers of three big software companies (Sun Microsystems, Mircrosoft, and Oracle)

Time period: one month, summer 2005

Response rate: 93 persons; a response rate cannot be calculated due to unknown size of population

Objectives:

Analysis and interpretation of blogging behavior with reference to knowledge work

Detecting the motives behind blogging

Examine the impact of blogging on organizational knowledge

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Underlying structure of the survey

Blogging behavior

Motivation(Intrinsic/Extrinsic)

Knowledge

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Underlying structure of the survey

Blogging behavior

Motivation(Intrinsic/Extrinsic)

Knowledge

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When looking at the blogging behavior, the results indicate differences in the respondents’ blogging intensity

The overall blogging intensity ranges from a very high level (7 % of all respondents) to a low level one

The biggest group of all respondents is either characterized by a high or mid-range bloggingintensity

In turn, only a small group of webloggers (i.e. 5 %) shows a low level of blogging intensity

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Regarding the blogging period and the respondents‘ demographicsthe survey reveals interesting results

Most of the participants (i.e. 61 %) are middle aged between 30 and 39, whereas 22 % are between 20 an 29 years old

Only a very small group of respondents (i.e. 5 %) belongs to the group aged 50+

Looking at the blogging period since beginning to blog, there are three or even four main groups

Respectively almost one third (i.e. 30 %) of all respondents has either been blogging for seven to twelve months or even for one to two years

Only a very small group has been blogging for less than one month, whereas one fourth has been blogging for one to six months

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My age is...

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I have been blogging for...

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The blogging intensity is mirrored by the frequency of posting as well as the length of the posts

The strongest group with almost half of all respondents (i.e. 43 %), posts once or twice a week, whereas only 2 % belong to heavy bloggers which post even several times a day

Respectively one fourth (i.e. 24 %) posts several times a week or once or twice a month

The overall distribution follows a normal curve

When posting respondents mostly write mid-long posts: the average length of the posts of more than half of all respondents (i.e. 56 %) is half a page

However, 28 % post with an average length of one page or even more than one page (6 %)

Only a small group (i.e. 2 %) writes only a few words or one to three lines (i.e. 8 %)

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I post...

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The average length of my posts is…

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The blogging intensity is also reflected in the commenting and reading of other weblogs

On the active site, some respondents comment on other weblogs several times a week (i.e. 21 %) or even several times a day (i.e. 7 %)

The majority (one third of all respondents) comments on other blogs once or twice a week, whereas the same number comments once or twice a month (i.e. 21 %) or even less than once a month (i.e. 22 %)

On the passive site, the result is somewhat more homogenous: Most of all respondents (i.e. 45 %) read weblogs several times a day, whereas 28 % read weblogs several times a week and others (20 %) once or twice a week.

Another group with 6 % of all respondents stated that they read weblogs once or twice a month, whereas nobody reads weblogs less than once a month

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I comment on other weblogs...

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I read weblogs...

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Relationship between the underlying questionnaire items

Blogging behavior

Motivation(Intrinsic/Extrinsic)

Knowledge

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In an overall perspective, the blogging behavior of webloggers isevoked by some motivational factors

More than half (i.e. 52 %) of all respondentsagree that they are motivated; 41 % of themshow some motivation as well

In detail, respondents stated that they blogbecause...

“…it helps me get feedback from customers, about my work.”

“…it's easy, it's fun, and it connects me to others.”

“…of many reasons, mostly related to career and reputation building.”

“…it is fun, it is a contribution to the overall community of some expertise I have.”

“…I give something, I get something, DO UT DES.”

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Motivation

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV.1 Intrinsic motivation p. 18

IV.2 Extrinsic motivation p. 24

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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In detail, bloggers are mostly driven by intrinsic motivation

Most of the respondents (i.e. 56 %) agree thatthey are instrinsically motivated for blogging; i.e. they blog because they just enjoy bloggingor have fun while blogging

Almost 20 % even strongly agree, as well as the same number of respondents neitheragree nor disagree that they were driven by an intrisic form of motivation 0

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Intrinsic motivation

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Different survey items produce evidence for the intrinsicmotivation of bloggers

The item about pleasure or enjoyment of blogging shows a quite uniform picture

Over 80 % agree or even strongly agree about the fact that they enjoy blogging

Only a small group of all respondents (i.e. 5 %) disagrees with this statement

Over one third of all respondents agree that they were satisfied with their bloggingactivities; 19 % even strongly agree

However, a quarter of all respondents neither agree nor disagree

In fact, almost 20 % of all respondents are dissatisfied with their blogging activities

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I enjoy blogging

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I am satisfied with my blogging activities

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Two more questionnaire items confirm bloggers‘ instrinsicmotivation

The largest group of respondents (i.e. 38 %) agree that it was important for them to do well at blogging and even another group of 22 % of all respondents strongly agree

In contrast, 26 % neither agree nor disagree with the discussed topic

Most of all, respondents agree or even strongly agree that they are blogging because they want to

Only a very small group does not blogvoluntarily

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It is important for me to do well at blogging

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I am blogging because I want to

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In addition, blogging can bring some value to bloggers and thuscould contribute to bloggers` instrinsic motivation

Most of the bloggers agree (i.e. 48 %) or even strongly agree (i.e. 37 %) with the statement that blogging is of some value to them

Few are undecided (i.e. 10 %) and only a very small group disagrees or disagrees strongly with the statement (each with 2 %)

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I believe blogging is of some value to me

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV.1 Intrinsic motivation p. 18

IV.2 Extrinsic motivation p. 23

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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In comparison to intrinsic motivation, one can observe thatwebloggers are less extrinsically motivated

By looking at the aggregate variable, the biggest group of respondents (i.e. 47 %) isundecided if they were extrinsically motivated: they do not agree nor disagree

But 30 % agree that they were driven by an extrinsic form of motivation

17 % of all respondents even disagree thatthey were extrinsically motivated, whichstands for a more intrinsic kind of motivation 0

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Weblogger try to enhance their renown by means of weblogging

The majority of webloggers acknowledge the beneficial impact of weblogging upon their own reputation (i.e. 28 % strongly agree and 45 % agree)

In contrast, only 13 % disagree to diverse extents (i.e. 11 % disagree, whereas only 2 % strongly disagree)

More than two thirds of the webloggers assume that weblogging helps to illustrate their competence

Only a few people are undecided (i.e. 18 % neither agree nor disagree)

Just a tiny fraction of 11 % of all the respondents presumed that weblogging is not relevant for revealing their competencies

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Blogging enhances my reputation

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I can show my competence by blogging

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As expected, most of the webloggers do not expect to beremunerated for their weblogging-activities

The overall majority is not motivated to blogby financial profits

Only 4 % agree to blog in order to gain financial benefits

These results can be deemed to be in accordance with the strong hints that webloggers are intrinsically motivated

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I am motivated to blog as I can earn money with it

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Relationship between the underlying questionnaire items

Blogging behavior

Motivation(Intrinsic/Extrinsic)

Knowledge

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By means of weblogging, novel connections can be established that enhance the previous access to knowledge

The overall results indicate that webloggers assume that blogging enlarges their access to knowledge

For example, respondents stated, that weblogs help them to…

„…understand how others think“

„...show my knowledge, skills and interests to thecommunity and potential customers“

“…get personal insights into other people's activities. That means that blogs allow me to learn how to configure my computer through to learning what it's like to be a policeman in Manchester. Interesting, useful and fun information is easily available”

“I'm an extreme extrovert - I learn and gain knowledge by talking things through”

“…discern what i currently know about my field of expertise in an organized way, as well as gain more insight on particulars such as tips, tricks and mechanisms of my field of expertise when reading up on other reliable knowledge weblogs”

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Overall change in topics consideringorganizational and individual knowledge

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

VI.1 Knowledge quality p. 30

VI.2 Knowledge access p. 35

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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The knowledge gained by blogging is deemed valuable – not onlyfor the individual weblogger, but also for the organization

Nearly two thirds of all respondents agreed that weblogging is useful since the knowledge derived from it is of high quality

However, 27 % are undecided

13 % even disagree, i.e. they assume that the quality of knowledge conveyed by weblogs is not valuable

Nearly two thirds of all participants (i.e. 60 %) agree that the organizational knowledge improves by means of weblogging

A relative high proportion of respondents is neither against this claim nor in favor of it

Only roughly a tenth of the webloggers think that weblogging does not culminate in enhanced organizational knowledge quality

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Quality of knowledge

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By blogging the quality of organizational knowledge gets better

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Blogging in a knowledge community evokes an identification withfellow webloggers

Two thirds (i.e. 69 % ) of the webloggers feel attached to their weblogging community

Only 11 % are reluctant to that idea, whereas a relatively high amount of participants (i.e. 19 %) indicated that they neither agree nor disagree

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By blogging I feel that I belong to a knowledge community

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Webloggers assume that blogging results in enhanced knowledge quality –either by introspection or by deriving benefits from fellow webloggers

76% of all webloggers favor the idea that they blogging urges them to reflect upon their knowledge

Only few people disagree (i.e. 11 %), whereas 14 % of the webloggers were indecisive

Two thirds of the webloggers are enticed to observe or participate in the weblog-community due to vibrant discussions

However, nearly a third remains neutral and does not deem the discussion to be vibrant

Only 8 % argue that the weblog-community they observe or participate in is not vibrant

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My weblog helps me to reflect about my own knowledge

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Discussions within the weblog-community are vibrant

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Further knowledge-related benefits from blogging concern the attribution of knowledge to responsible persons, as well as the presupposed confidentiality of the sources

Nearly half of the respondents presume that knowledge conveyed with the help of weblogs makes it easier, to find the person that is responsible for that knowledge

Nevertheless, nearly a third (i.e. 29 %) opposes this idea

25 % of the webloggers aired that they are undecided

In contrast to expectations, less than half of the respondents argued that they trust the various weblog sources/authors

A high amount of the webloggers is indecisive while neither agreeing nor disagreeing

16 % indicated that the information displayed in weblogs is untrustworthy

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Weblogs help me to understand who knows what in the organization

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The information displayed in weblogs is trustworthy

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

VI.1 Knowledge quality p. 30

VI.2 Knowledge access p. 35

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Webloggers presume to derive benefits from weblogging whilegaining access to knowledge

Over two thirds of the webloggers consent to the idea that blogging is beneficial in terms of enhancing knowledge access

27 % of the respondents were indecisive

Just 3 % disagreed with that notion, which leads to the conclusion that access is likely to be improved by weblogging

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Knowledge access

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In particular, access to external knowledge is improvedby blogging

The majority of webloggers (i.e. 81 %) approve the idea that they gain superior access to external sources

Only 4 % disagree and assume that external access has not improved

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External access

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Most respondents agree that blogging has changed their access to new knowledge

90 % of respondents agree that weblogs offer access to new knowledge

Only 1 % does not agree with that statement

The access to new knowledge is triggered by the possibility to make new contacts outside the organization

84 % of respondents stated, the they made such contacts outside the organization

In conclusion, weblogs can be interpreted as a technology that facilitates the exploration of new knowledge for the organization

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With weblogs I gained access to new knowledge

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By means of weblogs I made new contacts outside the organization

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However, the measure for access of internal knowledge is positive as well

48 % of respondents agree that webloggingprovides access to internal organizational knowledge

Only 16 % do not agree with that statement

However, there are 36 % of respondents who are undetermined about this issue

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Internal access

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In conclusion, weblogs have changed access to organizationalknowledge

73 % of bloggers agree that the access to knowledge has changed through weblogging; only 10 % do not agree with that statement

Weblogs help to access more people than before. Thus, weblogging is a tool for establishing social networks

83 % of respondents agree that they have access to more people than before

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By blogging my access to knowledge has changed

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With weblogs I can access more people than before

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It is not just the access to knowledge: another advantage of weblogging is the velocity of access

Over 55 % aggree that weblogging means a fast access to internal and external knowledge

Only 13 % of respondents do not agree with this statement

In consequence, access to internal and external knowledge is fast, or as one of the respondents stated: blogging “is a powerful knowledge tool”.

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In particular the fast access to external knowledge is a crucialaspect

Half of the respondents agree that weblogs help to quickly access internal knowledge

More significant is the statement that by means of weblogs knowledge outside the organization can be accessed quickly

76 % of bloggers agreed with this statement.

Only 12 % do not see a fast access of externalknowledge

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Beyond the aspects of access to knowledge, blogging might changepersonal impact on organizational knowlegde and the intensity of knowledge flows

Over all, 55 % of webloggers feel that their personal impact on organizational knowldgecreation has increased

Only 16 % do not agree to that statement

On an organizational level, this can result in a more intensive flow of organizational knowledge

More than half of the respondents agree on the statement that blogging has increased the intensity of knowledge flows

However, 20 % can not agree to the same issue

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Of course, most respondents do use other corporate knowledge bases, but weblogging is special . . .

80 % of webloggers agree that there are relevant other knowledge bases

Nevertheless, they think blogging is special, because…

“…it is a revolution regarding social interactions that will improve the quality of my Customer Relations and the reach of new people”

“…it is relatively unstructured. It's easy to re-find information. It's relatively informal”

“…it combines reflection, publishing and networking”

“…it is a powerful knowledge tool”

“…it has opened up communication across boundaries.”

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Apart from weblogs, I use other corporate knowledge bases

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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The Microsoft-Longhorn Blogosphere – Illuminative insights from a case study

A very prominent example of a corporate weblog is the development documentation of Microsoft’s new software “Microsoft-Longhorn”, recently launched as “Vista”. The Microsoft-Longhorn Blogosphere (MLB) is interesting for two reasons: Firstly, in contrast to other blogospheres within the corporate realm, the weblog-entries of the MLB are publicly accessible (www.longhornblogs.com). Secondly, the MLB focuses on knowledge management-related activities as webloggers are noting information about their experiences and progress at developing and using specific software. The MLB can be depicted along two dimensions, organizational aspects, and participants.

Organizational AspectsRegarding the websites that seriously and purposely deal with Microsoft-related contents, one can distinguish between websites that are either administered by Microsoft and those that are not. The MLB belongs to those that are not officially administered by Microsoft. However, Microsoft encourages its employees to engage themselves in the diverse company-related communities that have either an informative or a software-related scope. The information exchanged is restricted to the Longhorn-software. A prior test version was assigned to the MLB-members in September 2003 in the run-up to the Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Los Angeles.

The final version of Microsoft-Longhorn is expected to be launched by the beginning of 2007. With regard to the PDC, the MLB was mainly active between September and October 2003. The intention was to provide potential customers, voluntary contributors, and developers with a platform to air their views of the upcoming software. The weblogs are concertedly operated at the respective website www.longhornblogs.com. The various members communicate via this platform but they are also partially interlinked via their private weblogs.

Participants of the MLBThe MLB consists of Microsoft employees (labeled as

“experts”), as well as non-Microsoft members, so called Most Valuable Professionals (MVP). According to the Microsoft’s homepage, the MVP Program recognizes and thanks outstanding members of technical communities for their community participation and willingness to help others. The program celebrates the most active community members from around the world who provide invaluable online and offline expertise that enriches the community experience and makes a difference in technical communities featuring Microsoft products” [Microsoft 2005]. The MLB consisted of 60 registered members, 43 of them MVPs and 17 Microsoft employees. In turn, 36 of them were active weblogger (25 MVPs and 11 Microsoft experts). For our purpose, we labeled those MLB-members as “active webloggers” who contributed at least once to the MLB via a permalink, post or comment.

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The Microsoft-Longhorn Blogosphere – Illuminative insights from a case study

To analyze these data in depth, a social network analysis by means of the statistical software UCINET helps to illuminate theactivities further. We analyzed the websites’ various modes of communication (posts, comments etc. within a period from September 2003 to March 2005) by collecting in an Excel-sheet by means of diverse matrices, whereby each of the 36 weblogger was assigned one column, as well as one row. The relational intensity was reduced to a binary scale (one vs. zero) - i.e. the existence or non-existence of a link (sometimes also referred to as tie) between two persons was measured. As a result, the figure below just represents the various linkages among the MLB-members and one cannot make a distinction between the types of communication anymore.

Looking at the various weblogger, one can assert that Blogger1, Blogger 28 as well as Blogger 29 were the most active participants within the MLB. In this connexion it seems worth mentioning that those weblogger that contributed oftentimes were also contacted more frequently (i.e. there existed a high correlation of 0,67 between posts and comments and the score for posts and trackbacks was 0,79). To put it differently, one can assert a high degree of reciprocity here. Thus, it seems as if webloggers that have a strong attachment to the blogosphere will be more likely to help others when they experience problems or have questions. In turn, they also received considerably more feedback in comparison to less active MLB-members. Nevertheless, the reciprocity can be depicted as a generalized reciprocity. For instance, Blogger 28 got 115 posts and 548 comments, whereby he will not expect to receive help or information from the MLB-member he helped last week, but from another network member.

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Loghornblogs.com – an example for corporate knowledge blogs

Lead User (MVP)

Microsoft Employee

Blogger33

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Content

I. Introduction – Weblogs as a new phenomenon p. 3

II. Blogging behavior – How bloggers blog p. 9

III. Motivation – Why blogging motivates p. 15

IV. Knowledge – The impact of blogging on the knowledge worker p. 27

V. Microsoft Longhorn – Illuminative insights from a case study p. 45

VI. Further information – Useful resources at a glance p. 49

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Famous corporate weblogs

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/all you (might) want to know about GM

http://blogs.msdn.com/Microsoft‘s weblogging community

http://www.longhornblogs.com/Microsofts particular Longhorn-community

http://www.orablogs.com/orablogs/Oracle‘s blogs

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/main.doSun blogs as well and attracts a thriving community

http://blogs.sun.com/roller/main.doSun Microsystems also utilizes weblogs

http://www.knallgrau.at/company/weblogone of the leading German-speaking companies that offer weblog-services

http://www.lawblog.de/a weblog maintained by lawyers that deals exclusively with weblog-related issues

http://www.bensaunders.com/Nike-related business blog (in collaboration with professional athletes)

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Weblog search engines

http://technorati.com/(analyses the popularity of the respective weblogs; maybe the most renowned search engine)

http://www.blogarama.com/ and http://www.search4blogs.com/bloggers/index.php(convey a similar structure as Yahoo)

http://www.blogdigger.com/ (similar to Google)

http://www.blogpulse.com/

(cf. blogdigger)

http://blogstats.de/(cf. blogdigger)

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Literature overview

[Efimova 2004] Efimova, L.: “Discovering the iceberg of knowledge work: A weblog case”, paper submitted to OKLC 2004, retrieved from the internet (22.11.04) at: http://www.ofenhandwerk.com/oklc/pdf_files/I-2_efimova.pdf

[Herring et al. 2005a] Herring, S.C., Kouper, I., Paolillo, J.C., Scheidt, L.A., Tyworth, M., Welsch, P., Wright, E., Yu, N. (2005a), “Conversations in the Blogosphere: An Analysis “From the Bottom Up””, paper presented at Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-38), Los Alamitos 2005

[Herring et al. 2005b] Herring, S. C., Scheidt, L. A., Bonus, S., Wright, E. (in press): “Weblogs as a bridging genre”, in: Information, Technology & People, 18 (2005)

[Hourihan 2002] Hourihan, M.: “What we're doing when we blog”, retrieved from the internet (11.09.04) at: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/06/13/megnut.html

[Schuster 2004] Schuster, M.; “Applying Social Network Analysis to a small Weblog

Community: Hubs, Power Laws, the Ego Effect and the Evolution of Social Networks”, presentation at the Blogtalk 2.0 conference, Vienna 2004

[Sullivan 2002] Sullivan, A.: “A Blogger Manifesto. Why online weblogs are one future for journalism”, retrieved from the internet (04.10.04) at: http://www.andrewsullivan.com/main_article.php?artnum=20020224

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NotesDr. Stephan Kaiser studied business administration at the Universities of Regensburg and Wales (EMBS Swansea). In 2001, he earned his PhD at the Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. Since that time he is assistant professor at the same university. His main research interests are social software, professional service firms, knowledge and human resources, and organisational theory.

Stefanie Kroth studied business administration at the Universities of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and Antwerp. Since 2006, she works for the Chair of Organizational Theory and Human Resources Management at the Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt. Her main research interest is HRM and social software.

Gordon Müller-Seitz studied business administration at the University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and the European Business School, London. Since 2004, he works for the Chair of Organizational Theory and Human Resources Management at the Ingolstadt School of Management. His main research interests are positive emotions and social software, in particular weblogs. In addition, he is interested in professional service firms.

Catholic University of Eichstätt-IngolstadtIngolstadt School of ManagementAuf der Schanz 49 - 85049 Ingolstadt, Germanywww.wfi.edu/lsr - +49 - 0841 - 937 1936Stephan.Kaiser [at] kuei.de