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Exploring Appropriation of Enterprise Wikis:

A Multiple-Case Study

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide both application-oriented researchers and practitioners with detailed insights into conception, implementation, and utilization of intra-organizational wikis to support knowledge management and group work. Firstly, we report on three case studies and describe how wikis have been appropriated in the context of a concrete practice. Our study reveals that the wikis have been used as Knowledge Base, Encyclopedia and Support Base, respectively. We present the identified practices as a result of the wiki appropriation process and argue that due to their open and flexible nature these wikis have been appropriated according to the users’ needs. Our contribution helps to understand how platforms support working practices that have not been supported by groupware before, or at least not in the same way. Secondly, three detailed implementation reports uncover many aspects of wiki projects, e.g., different viewpoints of managers and users, an investigation of other sources containing business-relevant information, and perceived obstacles to wiki projects. In this context, our study generates a series of lessons learned for people who intend to implement wikis in their own organizations, including the awareness of usage potential, the need for additional managerial support, and clear communication strategies to promote wiki usage.

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Notes

  1. For a broader overview of these theories and a discussion see e.g. Stevens (2009).

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the anonymous reviewers, the companies who were part of our study and the colleagues who contributed to our study. Especially, we want to thank the editors of this special issue, Carla Simone, Volker Wulf and Mark Ackerman for their valuable feedback and their willingness to help us to improve our paper. Alexander Richter wants to thank Michael Koch and Kai Riemer for being great mentors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. DIGITAL - Institute for Information and Communication Technologies, JOANNEUM RESEARCH, Steyrergasse 17-19, 8010, Graz, Austria

    Alexander Stocker

  2. Bundeswehr University, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, Neubiberg, 85577, Germany

    Alexander Richter

  3. Know-Center, Inffeldgasse 21a, Graz, 8010, Austria

    Patrick Hoefler

  4. German National Library of Economics (ZBW) – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, Düsternbrooker Weg 120, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Klaus Tochtermann

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  1. Alexander Stocker
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Correspondence to Alexander Stocker.

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Stocker, A., Richter, A., Hoefler, P. et al. Exploring Appropriation of Enterprise Wikis:. Comput Supported Coop Work 21, 317–356 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10606-012-9159-1

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