Governing Social Network Knowledge Activities

Abstract

Knowledge as an intangible asset can show flexibility and also be directed due to its context and path. The main concern of an organization's selected social network environment as a place for knowledge sharing and creation would be the suitable guidance of activities and ensuring alignment and adaption to organizational needs. Two main streams in the knowledge management domain address the concerns and give solutions: knowledge management governance (KMG) and knowledge governance (KG). Some researchers believe in the former and emphasize on managing the knowledge management programs in social network as a communication and information tool; while others believe that knowledge in social network as a virtual society (which has no strict formal relations) must be treated with flexibility and must be seen out of formal binding frameworks. In the latter, suitable policy making and engaging the right guidelines are the key points. It is obvious that no superiority can be considered for the two described streams and they may be preferred according to the mission and objectives of different social networks implemented in organizations. This chapter describes these two main streams and differentiates them according to their distinctions and similarities in the literature and available practices. The chapter gives insights to better understand the researching streams and their differences to find out the most suitable development policy for inner-organization social network knowledge management activities.