UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI FEDERICO II SCUOLA DI DOTTORATO IN INGEGNERIA INDUSTRIALE Dipatimnto di Inggnia Economico Gstional TESI DI DOTTORATO IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT XXIV CICLO Knowldg shaing VS constuction in onlin-convsations: a Dbat Dashboad to suppot distibutd dcision making though th collaboativ constuction of shad knowldg psntations Coodinato dl dottoato Ch.mo Pof. Giuspp Zollo Tuto Ch.mo Pof. Luca Iandoli Ch.mo Pof. Giuspp Zollo PhD candidat Dott. Ivana Quinto

2 Tabl of Contnts Intoduction 4 Chapt 1 Wb 2.0: It is not a fad, but th nw nomal Intoduction A social volution: th Wb Wb 2.0 in oganizations 31 Chapt 2 Wb-nabld collctiv intllignc fo suppoting distibutd dlibation pocss Intoduction Using collctiv intllignc to mak btt dcision Cunt wb-basd tchnologis fo suppoting collctiv dlibation pocsss Shaing tools Funnlling tools Agumntation tools Conclusions 54 Chapt 3 Comput suppotd agumnt visualization Intoduction Agumntation thoy: a shot intoduction Toulmin s schm IBIS fomalism Th is of comput suppotd agumnt visualization Th agumntation systms Vitus and shotcomings of agumntation tchnologis 74 1

3 Tabl of contnts Chapt 4 Communicating Efficintly to Collaboat Effctivly: Th Common Gound Thoy Intoduction Common Gound: Clak s Contibution Common Gound In CSCW Gounding in Onlin Agumntation-Mdiatd Communication fo Suppoting Distibutd Dlibation Pocss A Thotical Modl Fo Augmnting Agumnt Mapping Tools Community Fdback Intaction fdback Absoption fdback Th dsign of th Dbat Dashboad A wb-basd Agumnt mapping Tool: Coh Th Dbat Dashboad 114 Chapt 5 Expimnt Dsign and Mthodology Intoduction Th Thotical Modl to tst Th Rsach s Hypothss Expimnt Dsign: A Fild Tst Masumnts Post-sssion Qustionnai Data Analysis Mthodology 142 Chapt 6 Data Analysis and Rsults Intoduction Dsciptiv statistics Data Analysis of Coh Databas Post-sssion qustionnai data analysis Vitual Machin Databas Stuctual Equation Modlling Analysis Masumnt Modl Stuctual Modl Mdiation Rsults Discussion Limitation 185 2

4 Tabl of contnts Appndix A Litatu viw on Visualization Tools 187 Appndix B Post sssion qustionnai 195 Appndix C SEM Gaph 198 Rfncs 200 3

5 Intoduction Th ability to collaboat is today on of th cucial capacity that oganizations hav to possss fo suviving in cunt tubulnt and highly comptitiv nvionmnt. Wb 2.0 sms abl to off adquat and mo fficint solutions to lt oganizations to collaboat with stakholds, customs and mploys and oth companis. Indd, on th Intnt th a sval tools that a abl to suppot lag, divs, and gogaphically dispsd goups to systmatically sha, xchang, co-cat knowldg and collaboativly com to dcisions concning systmic challngs. Th most common wb-basd collaboativ tools a blogs, wikis, foums, social ntwoks, which w tmd shaing tools [Josan, Isamil and Boyd, 2007]. Th wid succssful dpnds mainly on thi as of us and accss. Unskilld tchnical popl can asily paticipat to th cation and shaing of digital contnt. In litatu, th is vidnc that ths tools a vy fficint and ffctiv in suppoting collaboativ tasks at vy lag scal, such as accumulation, poduction and xchang of knowldg (.i. Wikipdia, InnoCntiv, Linux), but thy hav to fac also numous shotcomings whn applid fo suppoting collaboativ dlibation and dcision making pocsss aound complx poblms. On of th main citicism gads th way knowldg is captud and sntd. Indd, shaing tools oganiz captud contnt in a chonologically od, that is knowldg psntation is basd on whn th uss contibutions w postd. This way to psnt knowldg is considd th main caus of sval dysfunctions, such as: Low signal-to-nois atio: th small-voics a not listnd. Thy a vy cucial bcaus thy fost cativity and divsity by binging nw idas, opinions and pspctivs. 4

6 Intoduction Rdundancy: th captud contnt is oftn unsystmatic, ovwhlming and scattd. This ducs th possibility to idntify lvant infomation o not wll-covd aas, quiing mo attntion. Additionally, this hamps uss to cogniz goups consnsus. Conflicts: opposit viws may poduc clashs that block convsations (dit was and flam was) Lack of navigability: th captud contnt is oftn ovwhlming and do not show any connctions among latd pics of infomation. This hinds uss to mak sns of convsations, in paticula way, it impds nw coms to undstand and pitch into a discussion statd by oths. Oth kind of wb-basd tchnologis such as pdiction makts and -voting hav bn povd to b ffctiv at agggating individual opinions to dtmin th most widly/stongly hld viw [Wolfs & Zitzwitz, 2004], but povid littl o no suppot fo idntifying what th altnativs slctd among should b, o what thi pos and cons a. Additionally, thy do not lt uss to psnt th ational bhind a dcision. In od to addss ths shotcomings, altnativs tchnologis, abl to suppot a mo stuctud knowldg and conflicting points of viws psntation, hav bn dvlopd. In paticula, in this sach w focus on agumntation tools. Ths tchnologis ty to fill th abov mntiond gaps by hlping goups to psnt a dbat as a visual map composd of th lmnts: (i.) a st of issus to b answd, (ii.) positions (o idas) as altnativ solutions to issus and (iii.) suppotiv o challnging agumnts about poposd idas. Dbat is summaizd into a visual map conncting Issus, Positions and Agumnts though lablld links such as suppots to, objcts-to, suggstd by, placs. Such tools a supposd to b paticulaly suitd to fost dlibation and dcision making pocsss aound complx poblms as thy allow uss to psnt contntious and/o compting point of viws in cohnt stuctus mad up of altnativ positions on an issu at stak with thi associatd 5

7 Intoduction chains of pos and cons agumnts. Moov, by poviding a logical-basd dbat psntation, and by ncouaging vidnc-basd asoning and citical thinking, thy should significantly duc th pvalnc of som citical pitfalls that usually lad to dlibation failus in small scal goups and pomot a mo wll-suppotd dcision making. Agumnt mapping tools also fac som impotant shotcomings. Concns hav bn aisd about th ffctivnss of agumnt mapping to mdiat intaction: a cntal poblm is th psnc of communication fomats too constaining and intusiv that disupts th natual flow of f convsations, stpning th laning cuv and thfo incasing that uss cognitiv ffot ncssay to paticipat. Th stuctu of agumntation consids social and convsational cus as ilvant thus impding f communications and intaction. This has ntaild an objctification and fomalization of convsation aound th knowldg map, as wll as th loss of a ang of mtainfomation about paticipants and th intaction pocss though which th contnt is gnatd. Accoding to Clak and Bnnan [1991], th loss of this mta-infomation hinds f intaction and maks convsation lss fficint. Thfo, th tad off dpnds on th lack of tools abl to wisly mix social cus with knowldg oganization fomats. Shaing tools povid onlin uss with ich social and convsational infomation, but thy do not suppot an fficint and ffctiv knowldg oganization; on th contay, agumntation tools suppot a mo stuctud knowldg oganization, but thy nglct social cus, hinding f intaction. Rsach Qustion Th sach psntd in this thsis is motivatd by th dsi to impov agumntbasd convsations. In paticula, psnt study aims at nhancing th fficincy of agumnt mapping tchnologis in suppoting f intaction and mdiating wb-basd convsations among goups of individuals involvd in onlin distibutd dlibation and dcision making pocsss. Th basic assumption is that onlin agumntation tools 6

8 Intoduction could b th ight tchnologis fo suppotd distibutd dlibation and dcision making pocss, but thy hamp th f communication. W appoach this by addssing th paticula challng of making agumnt-basd convsations mo fficint in tms of communication costs that uss hav to ba. Th supposition is that, by pioitizing th fomal psntation of contnts gnatd by uss, sachs and dvlops hav nglctd social and communication aspcts which a vy impotant in fosting communication and mak paticipation mo ngagd. Actually, pvious sachs on th dvlopmnt of wb-basd agumntation tchnologis hav focusd on th constuction of appopiat knowldg fomat fo captuing and displaying uss contibution as wll-fomd agumntation maps, ath than on th povision of any social and convsational cus that suppot f and asy intaction and th cation of pop knowldg objct. This has aisd concns on th capability of agumntation to act as ffctiv mdiato and facilitato of intaction, notwithstanding th makably advantags that a xpctd fom its us. In this wok th aim is to invstigat how social and convsational agumntation tchnologis capabilitis can b impovd, and whth and to what xtnd ths impovmnts impact on uss pfomancs. Put diffntly, th aim is to impov th mdiation and intaction capability of agumnt tools by suppoting common gound constuction and updating duing agumnt-basd convsations. With this in mind, th cntal sach qustion is: How to tain th advantags of agumnt mapping and impov thi mdiation capability? Litatu Ovviw Poviding an answ to th qustion abov implis constituting a thotical basis fo btt valuating th stngthns and waknsss of agumnt mapping tools. 7

9 Intoduction Litatu has showd that agumntation tchnologis spct oth cunt taditional onlin tools, a abl to suppot ffctivly dlibation and dcision making pocsss. Onlin agumntation tools mak us of th agumnt thoy to mdiat and psnt dbats. Agumntation thoy dals with how humans should and do ach conclusions though asoning. It is basd on th ida that vy opinion can b bokn down into sub-lmnts that play ctain infntial functions in th discous, such as th conclusion o claim of an infnc and th pmis that lads to it. An agumnt map can b dfind as a visual psntation of an agumntation in which th functional lationships among claims a mad wholly xplicit using gaphical o oth non-vbal tchniqus [van Gld, 2003]. Th tm agumnt mapping indicats th act of poducing such maps, as wll as modifying, viwing and shaing thm. On th Intnt, th a numous xampls of wb-basd collaboativ agumnt mapping tools (fo a viw of cunt tools s that allow uss to navigat, co-cat and dit an agumnt map. Onlin collaboativ agumnt mapping tools can b usd to visualiz concpts, contnt (.g. annotations), knowldg soucs (.g. wbsits), as wll as links btwn knowldg lmnts. Th main fatu of agumnt maps is that thy allow uss to psnt complx asoning in an asy to follow, cla and unambiguous way. Th basic assumption bhind this appoach is that displaying knowldg visually though a spatial mtapho, is hlpful fo ky cognitiv tasks such as sns-making of lag amount of (conflicting) infomation [Un t al., 2006] and localization of lvant infomation. Additionally, such spatial-visual psntation suppots vidnc-basd asoning [Bx t al., 2003] by psnting contnt in a concis mann and making th logic bhind an analysis mo vidnt. By poviding a logicalbasd dbat psntation, and by ncouaging vidnc-basd asoning and citical thinking, should significantly ncouag individuals to mak wll-goundd and asond dcisions, futh to avoid som citical pitfalls that usually lad to dlibation failus. 8

10 Intoduction Nvthlss all ths advantags and th positiv impact on oganizational knowldg managmnt and in paticula way on dlibation and dcision making pocsss [Conklin, 2003; van Gld, 2003; Tgan, 2003], thy sm to stuggl to ach widspad diffusion both in th small and lag oganizations. In this sach w think that th limitd succss of onlin agumntation as a collaboativ tchnology dpnds mainly on th fact that ths tools nglct social and convsational aspcts that, in ality, mak convsation asi and mo ngagd. This has ntaild th loss of a ang of mta-infomation about paticipants and th intaction pocss though which th contnt is gnatd, hinding intaction and maks convsation lss fficint [Clak and Bnnan, 1991]. Accoding to Clak and Bnnan [1991], duing a convsation, paticipants xchang, in addition to infomation, vidnc and/o qusts fo vidnc ndd to undstand if th listns hav undstood o hav not undstood what th spak has said [Clak and Bnnan, 1991]. Onc such vidnc is gaind though convsational fdback offd by vbal and nonvbal communication acts, it is usd to updat paticipants shad infomation. Th pocss of making th undstood infomation pat of paticipants mutual knowldg, blifs, and assumptions is calld gounding pocss. Th ffctiv constuction of mutual knowldg is a ncssay condition fo a succssful convsation and knowldg accumulation and tansfomation. Gat amount of common gound lads to mo fficint communication, coodination, collaboation and pfomanc [Clak, 1996; Convtino t al., 2005]. Whn th convsation is mdiatd by any kind of communication tchnology, pat of th convsational fdback povidd in fac to fac discussion is ith unavailabl o can b povidd with som xta communication ffot. Consquntly th thoy of common gound stats that mdiatd communication is always lss fficint than fac to fac intaction and infficincy is chaactizd in tms of gounding costs. In lin with this, in th cas of agumnt mapping tools, th common gound building pocss is vy complicatd and cognitivly costly. 9

11 Intoduction Clak and collaboatos [Clak and Bnnan, 1991; Kaut t al., 2001] poposd that spcific communication contxts can b dscibd in tms of sts of gounding constaints (Tabl I.1). Ths constaints a dsiabl to duc th ambiguity and gounding costs in convsation. Indd, th high th numb of missing constaints, th lss abl th mdium will b fo facilitating common gound building and fficint communication. Tabl I.1. Affodanc in communication mdia Affodanc Clak t al. s dfinition Ou adaptd dfinition Audibility Copsnc Cotmpoality Mobility Paticipants ha oth uss and sound in th physical nvionmnt Uss sha th sam physical nvionmnt B civs at oughly th sam tim as A poducs Uss can mov aound physical spac Paticipants ha oth uss and sound in th vitual nvionmnt Paticipants a mutually awa that thy sha a vitual nvionmnt Paticipant civs th mssag at oughly th sam tim as th oth poducs (in al tim) Popl can mov aound in a shad vitual nvionmnt Rviwability B can viw A s mssag Mssag do not fad ov tim but can b viwd Rvisability B can vis mssag fo B Mssag can b visd bfo bing snt Simultanity Squntiality Tangibility A and B can snd and civ at onc and simultanously. A s and B s tuns cannot gt out of squnc. Paticipants can touch oth popl and objcts in th physical nvionmnt Paticipants can snd and civ mssags at onc and simultanously Paticipants can undstand and s th ply stuctu Paticipants can touch oth popl and objct in th vitual nvionmnt Visibility A and B a visibl to ach oth Paticipants s th actions of th oths us in th shad vitual nvionmnt Following Clak and Bnnan s thoy, w valuat agumntation tchnology in tms of th tchniqus it allows building common gound and thus in tms of gounding costs that uss hav to ba to communicat in an fficint way. In paticula, in th cas of agumnt mapping tools, gounding cost is vy high sinc ight out of tn constaints a missing. 10

12 Intoduction Thfo, th main ason fo a poo mdiation and communication pfomancs of agumnt mapping tools in tms of gounding costs is that thy a objctd-ointd tchnologis: th pimay objctiv of an agumnt mapping tool is to gnat a knowldg objct in th fom of map abl to captu and oganiz knowldg povidd by many contibutos duing a dbat. Diffntly fom oth collaboation tchnologis, thy a not xplicitly dsignd to suppot intaction and kping tack of th communicativ acts dvloping duing th pocss. Thfo, tchnology mdiation, objct-ointation, fomalization and spatial oganization of infomation ntail high gounding costs and consquntly difficultis in dvloping common gound and suppot fficint/ffctiv communication. Th difficultis of building common gound may pvnt uss to xploit th bnfits usually associatd to th us of agumntation tchnologis; such bnfits actually assum th availability of wll-fomd maps o at last that uss a in th conditions to cat such maps. If gounding costs a high, th chancs fo uss to cat good maps will b low, unlss substantial ffot is povidd by xtnal modatos chagd with th task of mapping in al tim th contibutions povidd by many uss. Unfotunatly modation can bcom vy costly whn th uss numb is not small. In od to tackl this poblm th ida is to dvlop an augmntd agumnt mapping tool abl to tain th taditional advantags offd by agumntation tchnologis and to dliv at th sam tim a ich st of mta-infomation aimd at fosting social intaction among uss and suppoting th constuction of mutual undstanding. W call such an augmntd Dbat Dashboad bcaus th mta-infomation is dlivd mostly though visual widgts, built upon and connctd to th agumntation tool, that a xpctd to suppot paticipant convsations. Th basic ida of th Dbat Dashboad is to mak visibl infomation that in fac-to-fac convsation is immdiatly availabl, whil in comput mdiatd communication a hiddn o missing. 11

13 Intoduction Numous sachs hav bn focusd on th analysis of th impact of convsational fdback and hiddn infomation on quality of discussion, its outcom and intaction pocsss among uss. Shnidman [2000] agud how disclosing pattns of past pfomanc, poviding ich fdback about uss and gnatd contnt a bst pactics fo suppoting onlin convsations. Eickson t al. [2002] discussd th impotanc of making socially-lvant hiddn infomation visibl in intactiv communitis in od to suppot smooth, flctiv and poductiv convsations though synchonous and asynchonous tools. Oth sachs hav built systms attmpting to povid lag amount of infomation about th psnc and activity of thi uss in a consolidatd and asy-to-ad way. [Donath t al., 1999; Vigas & Donath, 1999; Dav t al., 2004; Suh t al., 2008]. Ou goal is to st up a Dbat Dashboad in od to aid uss to monito and mak sns of discussions, showing thm fdback about paticipants, thi activitis with spct to th convsations and th volution of th gnatd contnt. In oth wods, dawing on gounding cost thoy, w dfind th catgois of fdback that a supposd to duc collaboativ cognitiv ffot, as wll as fost gounding pocss: Community (who): this st of fdback allows uss to know who a th community mmbs, to visualiz th community stuctu and to dvlop a sns of mmbship [Kim, 2000]. Intaction (how): this class of fdback allows uss to undstand how th mmbs of onlin community intact and what is happning in th onlin community. Absoption of knowldg (what): this fdback is about th contnt gnatd though intaction among uss and its oganization. As alady mntiond, by poviding such convsational fdback it is possibl to suppot th constuction of mutual undstanding which is usually caid by vbal and nonvbal communication acts in odinay convsations and is patially lost whn convsation is mdiatd by a tchnology. 12

14 Intoduction Ths classs of fdback a supposd to suppot uss in communicating in btt and asi ways, ducing misundstandings, facilitating th gounding pocss and diminishing its latd costs. Moov, w xpct that th impovmnt in th gounding pocss may also impov som uss pfomancs such as fficincy and outcoms. Th fdback a povidd though diffnt visual widgts whos fatus w dfind on th basis of sults of both a litatu viw on thity alady implmntd visualization tools and a suvy of th most famous social ntwoks, chats, blogs such as Twitt, Skyp, Facbook tc. All th visualization tools, that compos th Dashboad, wok in a closly coupld way, thfo any manipulation and chang of valus in on viw cats a simila chang in th linkd ons. This allows uss to look at data though diffnt pspctivs, pciv nw infomation and discov nw insights. Th Dbat Dashboad has bn built upon a wb-basd agumnt mapping tool, namly Coh and an xpimntal vsion is availabl at Coh is a wb-basd asynchonous agumnt mapping tool whos pupos is to suppot an on-lin collctiv agumntativ dbat. This agumnt mapping tool applis th IBIS appoach [Issu Basd Infomation Systm, Kunz & Rittl, 1970]. With Coh uss can cat posts to xpss thi thoughts and pick up an icon to associat to thm, which xplain th htoical ol of that post in th wid discussions. Moov with Coh uss can xplicitly connct thi post to oth post which is lvant to what thy want to say. By stuctuing and psnting onlin discous as smantic ntwok of posts Coh nabls a whol nw way to bows, mak sns of, and analyz th onlin discous. W chos Coh fo th valuation tst bcaus it is alady abl to povid som of ou individualizd fdback. This implicats mino ffot to mak th platfom adaptd to ou aims. Anoth impotant ason fo which w chos Coh is that it is a wb- 13

15 Intoduction basd asynchonous agumnt mapping tool. Th asynchonicity maks mot, mdiatd convsation, as wll as th gounding pocss, mo complicatd. Thfo, th utilization of fdback in this contxt maks sns and could b vn mo appopiatd, as wll as mo challnging. Expimnt This study wants to tst th impact of visual convsational fdback on Mutual Undstanding (MU) and, in tun, th impact of MU on uss pfomancs, using onlin collaboation agumnt mapping tool. In Figu I.1, w psnt th hypothsis gaphically: P MU F Lgnd: P MU F Pfomanc Mutual undstanding Fdback Affct positivly Figu I.1. Simplifid Thotical Modl Though this xpimnt, byond to valuat if visual fdback impovs and suppot th MU, w aim at valuating th impact of MU and visual fdback on th diffnt kinds of pfomanc (P), that is: Usability: Th vaiabls considd a pcivd as of us, us satisfaction, pcivd usfulnss [Davis, 1989; Vnkatsh and Davis, 2003] 14

16 Intoduction Quality of collaboativ pocss: This vaiabl is masud though th uss pcptions of quality of collaboation, th amount of collaboation (numb of connctions catd duing onlin discussion) Quality of outcom: This vaiabl is masud though th uss pcptions and misalignmnt btwn th goup dcision and th ight solution ; in oth wods th aim is th masuing th accuacy of th goup dcision. Pocdu In od to tst th hypothss, an valuation of th impact of th visual fdback povidd though th Dbat Dashboad on gounding pocss and on uss pfomanc, such as quality of collaboation, quality of outcom and Coh usability was pfomd in Jun 2011 at th Univsity of Napls with a community of aound 60 undgaduat studnts. Th studnts w all pat of th sam class fom a gaduat pogam in Industial Engining, ag Studnts paticipatd in a singl-facto, asynchonous, wb-basd goup dcision making xpimnt. Paticipants w andomly assignd to two goups (A and B). Th goup A was composd of 25 studnts, 56% mal; th goup B was composd of 36 studnts, 64% mal. Each goup wokd on a spcific collaboativ dcision making task fo two wks. Th dcision making tasks a conomic poblms that quid studnts to focast th valu of an conomic vaiabl within th allottd tim. In ou cas, studnts hav focast th oil and gold pic in th shot piod (th months). Duing two wks, ach goup dvlopd and wokd on a collaboativ map that flct knowldg, pspctivs and opinions of uss, as wll as suppot collctiv dcision making pocss on thi spcific task. Th fild tst was basd on btwn-subjct dsign with two goups which hav bn usd only onc and b pat of tatmnt goup o contol goup. Th mmbs of th tatmnt goup (goup A) usd an augmntd vsion of Coh ( that is an agumnt mapping tool intgatd with th visual widgts (th Dbat Dashboad). Tabl I.2 shows how ach fdback has bn implmntd and what fdback could not b alizd bcaus of tchnical fatus of Coh and tim constaints. 15

17 Intoduction Tabl I.2. Affodanc in communication mdia Affodanc Copsnc Cotmpoality Mobility Simultanity Squntiality Visibility Pofil Community histoy Social Stuctu Contxtualization Rlvanc Stuctuing Visual Widgts List of uss. Uss onlin a gn, whil ons offlin a d (Popl&Goup tab on Coh Hom Pag and on Goup Pag) Not povidd Not povidd Not povidd Not povidd Stats about uss activity (Stats tab Uss tab on Goup Pag) Us s psonal pag Stats about catd idas (Stats tab Idas tab on Goup Pag) Social ntwok visualization (Social Ntwok on Goup Pag) TagCloud sach ngin (click to ach TagCloud to visualiz all th idas with that TagCloud) TagCloud (TagCloud tab on Hom Pag and Tags tab on Goup Pag) Agumnt map Moov, w tackd and codd uss activity in od to monito and collct data on what fdback thy usd, as wll as thi fquncy of us. Th mmbs of contol goup (goup B) usd a plain vsion of Coh ( that is without th nw intoducd fdback. Bfo stating th xpimnt, th was a ppaatoy phas, duing which studnts had fou 2 hous of sminas about: i. Collctiv intllignc and its cunt Intnt applications; ii. Agumntation, with a focus on IBIS fomat; iii. Th main chaactistics dfining th Gold and Oil Makt; iv. An instuctional dmo of th Coh. Th studnts w also givn fw adings matials: nwspap and magazins aticls th topics. Moov, a wam up phas of on wk was pfomd duing which uss could us and pactic with th nw fomalism. Aft th compltion of dcision tasks, th mmbs filld out a follow-up qustionnai. Th qustionnai is mad up of 28 psychomtic scal masuing paticipants pcption about quality of collaboation, th outcoms, Coh usability and mutual undstanding. 16

18 Intoduction Masumnts In od to valuat th impact of visual fdback on Mutual Undstanding and on uss pfomancs, w hav to masu th fou following vaiabls. In paticula: Us of Fdback: was masud though th fquncy of fdback utilization. W collct this data by using Vitual Machin (dvlopd by a sach goup of Univsidad Calos III) abl to tack and cod uss onlin uss activity (uss chonology). In this way, w could comput th us of fdback fo ach us (fquncy). Mutual Undstanding: was masud though Likt scals by administing a follow-up qustionnai. Quality of Collaboation: was masud though Likt scals by administing a follow-up qustionnai and though a quantitativ masumnt as numb of catd connctions (Infomation bok + Compad thinking) Quality of Dcision: this vaiabl was masud though Likt scals by administing a follow-up qustionnai and though a quantitativ masu, that is th accuacy of studnts fosight Usability: this vaiabl was masud though Likt scal by administing a qustionnai. Data Analysis This disstation us Stuctual Equation Modlling to analyz th thotical modl. Th main multivaiat gssion tchniqus sha on common limitation: ach tchniqu can xamins only singl lationship at a tim [Hai t al., 2006]. Ths taditional tchniqus do not nabl us to tst th sach s nti thoy with pocdus that consid all possibl infomation. 17

19 Intoduction Stuctual Equation Modling (SEM) is a family of statistical modls that sk to xplain th lationships among multipl vaiabls. It can xamin a sis of dpndnc lationships simultanously. So, a hypothsizd dpndnt vaiabl bcoms indpndnt vaiabls in subsqunt dpndnc lationship. SEM has sval advantags ov fist gnation tchniqu lik pincipal componnts, facto analysis and multipl gssions. Fist, SEM allows sachs to modl lationship among multipl pdicto and cition vaiabls [Chin, 1998]. Scond, SEM nabls sachs to masu latnt (unobsvabl) vaiabls. Thid, SEM allows sachs to assss th masumnt modls and stuctual modls simultanously. Thus, masumnt os can b analyzd as pat of th modl. Finally, SEM stimats a sis of spaat, but intdpndnt, multipl gssion quations simultanously by spcifying a stuctual modl. Ths attibuts nabl sachs to answ a st of intlatd sach qustions in a singl, systmatic, comphnsiv analysis [Gfn t al., 2000]. Consquntly, as SEM is wll suitd to modling complx pocsss, w think that it is wll adaptd to th analysis of ou thotical modl. Rsachs hav two mthods of SEM analysis to choos fom, such as covaiancbasd SEM o last squas-bass SEM. PLS was chosn ov th oth on bcaus PLS suppot xploatoy sach and th data distibution assumptions a lss stingnt than th assumptions bhind covaianc-basd SEM. Additionally, PLS is capabl of assssing indict ffct such as th mdiation ol of Mutual undstanding btwn us of fdback and uss pfomancs. Rsults Rcall that th ovaching goal of this disstation is to invstigat th influnc of visual convsational fdback on MU and, in tun, th impact of MU on uss pfomancs (quality of collaboation, quality of dcision and usability). 18

20 Intoduction Fo data analysis, th diffnt databass w usd, in paticula: Coh databas. It includs all data gading uss activity pfomd on Coh platfoms (goup A and goup B). Follow up qustionnai databas. It includs data collctd though th follow up qustionnai administd to all paticipants at th nd of th xpimnt (goup A and goup B) Vitual Machin databas. This databas contains only data latd to studnts of Goup A. By using th vitual machin, th us of ach fdback has bn tackd and codd though thi spctiv URLs. It was possibl, bcaus ach visual widgt, by which w povid diffnt individualizd fdback, has an own wb pag and, thus, an URL (only goup A). Each of ths databass has bn analyzd to tst ou hypothsis and ach analysis has confimd as w supposd and xpctd. In paticula, fom th analysis of Coh databas is mgd that goup A wokd mo than goup B notwithstanding goup A is small than goup B (spctivly 25 and 36) (Tabl I.3). Tabl I.3. Dsciptiv statistics Coh databass Us s activity Goup A Us s activity Goup B # Posts 269 # Posts 334 # Connctions 412 # Connctions 380 Total 681 Total 714 Avag 27,24 Avag 18,31 St. Dviation 22,98 St. Dviation 16,28 On-tail T Tst on uss activity lvl confims that goup A was significantly mo activ than goup B. By using follow-up qustionnai mad up of 28 psychomtic scals, it has bn possibl to masu and collct data about cucial vaiabls of thotical modl, such as quality of collaboation, quality of dcision, usability and 19

21 Intoduction mutual undstanding. By pfoming on-tail T tst fo ach latnt constuct of qustionnai, it is mgd that uss pfomanc and Mutual Undstanding building of goup A a always significantly btt and gat than uss pfomanc and Mutual Undstanding of goup B. Fom ths analyss, w can conclud that th goup A, which usd th Dbat Dashboad, had btt pfomanc than th goup B that usd th plain vsion. As th two goups w not significantly diffnt (it was tstd though t Tst on an acadmic pfomanc indicato) w can conclud that th btt pfomanc dpnds on th povision of individualizd fdback. Futh analysis w pfomd to undstand th ol and th impact of ach fdback on common gound building and uss pfomancs, as wll as, th mdiation ol of mutual undstanding in impoving uss pfomancs. In paticula, in od to tst th poposd thotical modl, basd on a st of statmnts of colations btwn vaiabls, th Stuctual Equation Modlling was usd. In oth wods, by using SEM tchniqus, w aim at masuing th impact of visual fdback on MU and, in tun, th ffct of Mutual Undstanding on th th lvl of pfomancs, namly Quality of Collaboation (QofC), Quality of Dcision (QofD) and Usability (Usab), as wll as th impact of fdback on uss pfomancs. In this thid phas of data analysis, w usd only Goup A databass. Fom SEM analysis is mgd that ou hypothsis a suppotd. In paticula, it is possibl to claim that visual convsation fdback impact significantly on incas of mutual undstanding among onlin uss ov tim. Additionally, visual fdback impact significantly on lvl of uss pfomancs. By using SEM, it has bn possibl to vify th mdiation ol of Mutual Undstanding. In paticula, mdiation occus whn th caus-ffct lationship btwn a pdicto vaiabl (us of fdback) and a cition vaiabl (uss pfomancs) happns though an intvning vaiabl (Mutual undstanding). Mdiation lationships a of intst bcaus thy go byond simpl dscibing 20

22 Intoduction colations to xplain how pocss wok. Th hypothsizd mdiation ffcts w tstd using PLS. In od to pfom th mdiation analysis a simpl modl was catd that dpict a lationship btwn th indpndnt vaiabl (us of fdback) and th dpndnt vaiabl (uss pfomancs). Thn, a scond modl was catd that includ th mdiato vaiabl (Mutual Undstanding). Th sults dmonstat that th R 2 of th mdiatd modl was high than th simpl modl (Tabl I.4). Th mdiatd modl xplains mo of th vaianc of uss pfomancs than simpl modls. In nutshll, Mutual Undstanding mdiats ffctivly th intaction among fdback and uss pfomancs. Th sults a summaizd in Tabl I.4. Tabl I.4. R 2 compaison Path Simpl Modl R 2 Mdiatd Modl R2 (without MU) COMMUNITY --> MU --> USAB INTERACTION --> MU --> USAB 0,544 0,605 ABSORPTION --> MU --> USAB COMMUNITY --> MU --> QofC INTERACTION --> MU --> QofC 0,602 0,71 ABSORPTION --> MU --> QofC COMMUNITY --> MU --> QofD INTERACTION --> MU --> QofD ABSORPTION --> MU --> QofD 0,312 0,318 Implication This study aims at impoving agumntation mdiation capabilitis in od to xploit thi inhnt advantags and, at th sam tim, fosting f intaction among onlin uss. To addss this limitation, a Dbat Dashboad has bn implmntd. It is mad up of a st visual widgts abl to povid fdback about uss, intaction pocss and gnatd contnt. 21

23 Intoduction Though a fild tst, w tstd th fou of hypothss: i. th impact of visual fdback on Mutual Undstanding, ii. th ffct of Mutual Undstanding on th uss pfomancs, iv. th impact of fdback on uss pfomancs. iii. th hypothsizd mdiation ffcts of Mutual Undstanding btwn fdback and uss pfomancs. Th sults confim as supposd. Gnally, goup A show a significantly btt pfomancs (QofC, QofD, Usab) and MU than goup B. Additionally, it is mgd that visual fdback impacts on incasing of Mutual Undstanding and on uss pfomancs. Mutual Undstanding affcts uss pfomancs and mdiats (affct positivly) th lationship btwn fdback and pfomancs. Pactical and thotical contibutions has mgd fom this study. Fist, th findings fom th analysis of stuctual quation modl confim that visual, social and convsational fdback impact on mutual undstanding and on uss pfomancs. Scond, th sults indicats that mutual undstanding has a ol of mdiato and catalyst among visual fdback and uss pfomancs. Thid, in od to suppot fficint and ffctiv distibutd dcision making pocss, onlin collaboativ tools hav to b abl both to fost f intactions and to aid a mo stuctud knowldg oganization. Socialization/Intaction and knowldg oganization a two cucial condition fo suppoting dlibation and dcision making succssfully. Last, this study can b considd as an initial stp in th dvlopmnt of btt platfom abl to lvag th wisdom of diffnt distibutd individuals. Limitation Th fist limitation of this sach is that paticipants w dawn fom a singl acadmic cous. Th scond limitation of this sach is th siz of sampls. Indd, th basic ida is to xpand th sampls in od to btt masu th ffctivnss and fficincy of visual fdback in mdiat and suppot lag discussion goups. Th thid limitation of this study is that w did consid in ou analysis dmogaphic vaiabls that could b instd in SEM modls. Th fouth limitation of this disstation gads 22

24 Intoduction th us of Likt scal to collctd data and, in paticula, of clos-ndd qustions. Indd, this typ of qustions could lad uss to giv sponss not asond o fo satisfying th intviw, lad to inaccuat data analysis and sults. on of th main citicism is that Likt scal uss clos-ndd qustions. Th last limitations gad th st up of Dbat Dashboad; indd, not all individualizd fdback was bn implmntd bcaus of tchnical Coh fatus. Any analysis o studis has bn un about th dsign of visual widgts usd. Conclusion Th satisfactoy sults psnt an impotant ncouagmnt to xtnd this wok and to conduct futh xpimnts nlaging th sampl and involvd xpt communitis. A significant common gound building though agumntation psnts an impotant motivation to mak compaison tst with altnativ tools. Additionally, w aim at implmnting th oth individualizd fdback, in od to hav a mo complt and dtaild ida about th ol of diffnt fdback. Anoth impotant futu stp could b th impovmnt of th dsign of cunt visual widgts in od to btt suppot us s gounding pocss. 23

25 Chapt 1 Wb 2.0: It is not a fad, but th nw nomal 1.1 Intoduction Th ya 1989 witnssd on of th majo and most impotant vnts fo human histoy: th invntion of th Wold Wid Wb by Tim Bns-L. Dispsd comput communicating though packt-switching ntwok allowd scintific sachs of th CERN to communicat and to b linkd. This invntion was tansfoming human communication and poduction of knowldg [Hanad, 1991]. Th advnt of Wold Wid Wb, lat mad it mo accssibl by Mosaic bows and its succssos, poducd a hyplinkd systm of documnts though which to psnt visual infomation as wll as to connct uss to a powful ang of knowldg. Ths tchnological innovations hav tansfomd th comput into a volutionay nw mdium fo intpsonal, goup and mass communication and hav intoducd uss to a dazzling aay of nw communicativ capabilitis. Th Wb is changing th way th wold is doing things fficintly. 1.2 A social volution: th Wb 2.0 On th 25 th of Dcmb 2006, th TIME magazin assignd th titl of th Man of th Ya not to a paticula psonality, but to th Intnt us. Th choic of TIME Magazin to piz this gass-oot phnomnon is a good indication of how intnsivly this tnd has pmatd ou cultu. Indd, th aticl mphasizd how th phnomnon, commonly tmd as Wb 2.0, is affcting th way individuals communicat, collaboat, lan, nttainmnt thmslvs, mak dcisions, cat and sha infomation. 24

26 Chapt 1 It's a stoy about community and collaboation on a scal nv sn bfo. It's about th cosmic compndium of knowldg Wikipdia and th million-channl popl's ntwok YouTub and th onlin mtopolis MySpac. It's about th many wsting pow fom th fw and hlping on anoth fo nothing and how that will not only chang th wold, but also chang th way th wold changs [Gossman, TIME Magazin U.S]. Th tm Wb 2.0 was poposd by Tim O Rilly [2005] to indicat cutting-dg wb dvlopmnts. Actually, though th tm suggsts a nw vsion of Wb tchnology, it fs instad to changs in th communicativ uss of th undlying platfom. As Bns-L affims, Wb 2.0 offs nothing adically nw sinc th potntial fo a high lvl of paticipation and collaboation has always bn inhnt in th wb fom its outst [Clak, 2006; Laningham, 2006]. Th cucial changs w ctain tchnical impovmnts, which hav allowd uss with littl tchnical skills and knowldg to constuct and sha thi own digital poducts though th nw platfom. Indd, th Wb 2.0 applications a considd simpl, at last fom uss pspctivs. Thus, th lowing of tchnical bais sms to b th main ason of Wb 2.0 hug paticipation and of its widspad adoption. In this wok, th adoptd dfinition of Wb 2.0 is: Wb 2.0 is th ntwok as platfom, spanning all connctd dvics; Wb 2.0 applications a thos that mak visibl th most of th intinsic advantag of ths platfoms, that is dliving softwa as continually updat svic that gts btt th mo popl us it, consuming and mixing data fom multipl soucs, including individual uss, whil thy povid thi own data and svics in a fom that allows mixing by oths, cating ntwok ffcts though an achitctu of paticipation and going byond th pag mtapho of Wb 1.0 to dliv ich us xpinc [O Rilly, 2005] 25

27 Chapt 1 Phaps, th most complling aspcts of Wb 2.0 platfom, which diffntiat it fom th fist gnation of th Wb, a th ol of uss and th nw achitctu of paticipation. In Wb 1.0, th contnt catos w fw and th vast majoity of uss simply acting as consums of ths matials; instad in Wb 2.0 any paticipant could cat contnt and numous tchnological aids hav bn implmntd to maximiz th potntial of this phnomnon. Whil th ali Wb allowd popl to publish contnt, which oftn ndd up in isolatd infomation silos, th nw Wb s achitctu allows mo intactiv foms of publishing of any kind of digital contnt (both txtual and multimdia), paticipation, and ntwoking though vy common collaboativ tchnologis, such as blogs, wikis, foums, social ntwok sits. This achitctu is basd on softwa, wh uss gnatd contnt and its oganization appas spontanously though th action of millions of uss. Additionally, th systm is dsignd to tak uss intactions and utiliz thm to impov itslf. Bit Tont, fo instanc, dmonstats this ky Wb 2.0 pincipl; that is th ntwok of download povids both th bandwidth and data to oth uss so that th mo popl paticipat, th mo soucs a availabl to th oth uss on th ntwok. Us is a vital facto fo all catgois of Wb 2.0 applications, not only as a consum, but mainly as a contnt contibuto. Indd, popl play an activ ol in gnating and pooling knowldg that thy sha ach oth, which is subsquntly mixd, -distibutd and -consumd by oths [Haison and Bathl, 2009]. Th Wb is pincipally about paticipating ath than about passivly civing infomation [Tapscott and William, 2006] and it is inhntly social so that uss a cntal to both contnt and fom of all matial and soucs [Hady, 2007]. This fatu maks Wb 2.0 a liv mdium, which is constantly updatd and nichd by uss with nw digital poducts, infomation and knowldg. On th Intnt diffnt collaboativ tchnologis xist. In th following, a basic classification basd on application typs dividd into ight catgois is poposd: Blogs: th most known and fast-gowing catgoy of Wb 2.0 applications. Thy a onlin jounal wh uss can publish contnt. Oftn, blogs a combind with podcasts, that is digital audio o vido. On of th most famous blog is Slash.dot [ 26

28 Chapt 1 Wikis: is a wbpag o a st of wbpags that can b asily ditd by anyon who is allowd accss. Wikis a widly cognizd as tools abl to suppot collaboativ wok. Th most famous wiki is Wikipdia, th lagst ncyclopadia of th wold ( Social Ntwoks: allow uss to build a sot of psonal wbsits accssibl to oth uss fo xchang of psonal infomation and contnt and fo communications. Thy can b pofssional o social ntwoking sits that facilitat mt popl. Thy a th most popula wb-basd applications and popl spnd th most pat of thi Intnt total tim visiting thm. Exampls a: Contnt Communitis: allow uss to oganiz and sha paticula typ of contnt. Exampls a applications of vido shaing (.g. o photo shaing (.g. Foums/bullt boads: lt uss to sha idas and infomation usually aound spcific intsts. Data mash-ups: pull togth data fom diffnt soucs to cat a nw svic. Th main chaactistics of th mash-ups a combination, visualization, and agggation. It is impotant to mak xisting data mo usful fo psonal and pofssional us. RSS and Syndication: is a family of fomats which pmit uss to fully customis th wb contnt that thy wish to accss. Infomation fom th Wbsit is collctd within a fd and pipd to us in a pocss known as syndication. Tagging and social bookmaking: a tag is a kywod that is addd to a digital objct (photo, vido, wbsits) to dscib it. On of th fist lag-scal applications of tagging was sn in dl.icio.us wbsit, which launchd th social bookmaking phnomnon. Social bookmaking allows uss to cat lists of 27

29 Chapt 1 favouit, to sto thm cntally and to sha thm with oth uss of th systms. Wb 2.0 is pvasiv and it is adically modifying th way popl communicat, find and sha infomation and collaboat to cat collctiv outputs. Bing connctd to th wold aound us has nv bn mo asy and accssibl than it is today. Th ubiquity of th Wb 2.0 has volutionizd how w intact with ach oth. Fom th advnt of mail, bulltin boad systms, to cunt social ntwoking sits, tchnology has bn incasingly intgatd with communication to bcom a pominnt focus of th nw digital ag. It has ld up a social volution that is taking ov th Intnt and nting into ou al livs. Indd, Wb 2.0 tchnologis a abl to affct individual s bhavious and thi dcisions and choics. At th bginning, many sachs and pactitions claimd that Wb 2.0 would hav bn only a tnd that would b gon away in fw tim. But it is still h and it is claly th nw nomal. In od to btt undstand how Wb 2.0 applications a th nw nomal and, in paticula, how wb 2.0 tchnologis hav dply volutionizd ou daily lif, in th following som wb-basd stois, poving thi intns impact, will b psntd. Ths xampls mphasiz th way Wb 2.0 tchnologis hav changd how w communicat, intact and cat collctiv output. On of th most famous xampls of collaboativ knowldg building systms is Wikipdia with mo than 400 millions of uniqu visito monthly. It is an onlin ncyclopadia in which any ad can also b an dito, with thi changs immdiatly visibl to subsqunt visitos. Its slogan is Anyon Can Edit vn ungistd popl can contibut to th constuction of knowldg bas. Millions of anonymous and voluntay uss cat and updat daily aticl pags of lagst ncyclopadia of th wold. This massiv paticipation (th a mo than activ contibutos) has sultd in a highly popula sit with a lag amount of contnt tanslatd in 270 diffnt languags and with nintn millions of aticls (almost on million of aticl in Italian Wikipdia alon). Though this succssful stoy, I would lik to mphasiz how Wb 2.0 collaboativ tchnologis has mad possibl to thousands of individuals to collaboat to th 28

30 Chapt 1 cation of th lagst ncyclopadia of th wold. Indd, English Wikipdia vsion counts aound 4 millions of aticls and 609 millions of wods, xcding Bitannica Encyclopadia which in Dcmb of 2004 countd 120,000 aticls and 77 million wods. Wb-basd tchnologis hav mad possibl such lvl of paticipation and collaboation, which was unimaginabl fw yas ago. In 2009, Twitt was an fficint mans to supassing th cnsu that Ianian Govnmnt applid duing th movmnt against th lctions sults. Twitt was launchd in 2006 and allows twitts to post what thy want in a mssag mad up of not mo than 140 chaacts. Onc that th mssag is snt, all subscibs who follow him/h civ updats. Bcaus of Ianian cnsoship on infomation flow though th mdia fom th county, suppots of th Mi- Hossin Mousavi potstd against th sults of th lctions that w in favou of Ahmdinjad by using Twitt. What maks Twitt suitabl tools fo a mass potst was both its as of us and vy had fo any cntal authoity to contol. Additionally, by using hash tag uss can tag thi posts facilitating thi goupd and sach fo topic, as wll as thi tansmission by oth uss. Twitt has boadcastd what had happnd in Ian. Claly, Twitt did not stat th potsts in Ian, no did it mak thm possibl. But suly it has ncouagd th potsts, infocd thi conviction that thy a not alon but populations outsid Ian w ngagd and followd thi situation in a way that was nv possibl bfo [souc: Gossman, 2009, TIME Magazin]. Hundds of thousands of activists contibutd to Baack Obama s lctoal campaign playing a significant ol in influncing th lctoal outcom and now pusuing opn-lobbying on th Psidntial agnda though th Intnt. Many consid that Baack Obama is th fist "Social Mdia" Psidnt. A nw ag of digital dmocacy wh popl play an activ ol in govnmnt now and ov tim is bginning. In Jun 2011, Th Whit Hous publishd a blog post that indicats that th Whit Hous is indd listning in social mdia. Though wbbasd collaboativ tchnologis govnmnt and lads could ncouag fans and follows to contibut to any campaign o mission. In doing so, Wb

31 Chapt 1 tchnologis volv fom infomation channls to ngagd communitis with th ability to affct popl s bhavious. Though Intnt-basd application th futu of politics isn't catd, it's co-catd [souc: Sois, FastCompany]. Facbook was launchd in Fbuay 2004 and th Wb sit's mmbship was initially limitd Havad studnts. Mo than half of studnt collg signd up within th fist month. Today, Facbook counts mo than 800 millions of uss aound th wold. It is th siz of th nti Intnt in It is th top onlin dstination in a lot of countis aound th wold (.g. USA, UK, Italy, Bazil, Gmany, Fanc), bcoming synonymous with Wb 2.0 us [Nilsn pot, 2011]. Popl us Facbook vyday to kp up with finds, upload an unlimitd numb of photos, sha links and vidos, and lan mo about th popl thy mt. Uss a xpincing a nw way to stay constantly in contact with oths. In gnal, by using social ntwoking sits, onlin uss continually updat thi status and sha thi momnt-by-momnt activitis. W a living in a socity, wh w sha almost vything: what w at, wh w shop, what w a watching on tlvision. Slowly but suly vything is losing its status of "sacd", sct, with shaing bcoming th nom. Social scintists calld this incssant onlin contact ambint awanss. In som way, though this constant updating, it is lik bing physically na somon and picking up on his mood though things thy do. By agggating all th updats, snippts coalsc into a supisingly sophisticatd potait of ou finds and family mmbs livs. Bing tightly connctd to th wold aound us has nv bn simpl than it is at th momnt. Intnt mad possibl to ach popl with mly a click of button, but social ntwoking sits hav mad th wold small! Ths a only fw xampls about how Wb 2.0 tchnologis hav povidd uss with nw foms and spacs fo social intactions, community fomation and social and pofssional ntwok cation and maintnanc. As mgd, ths nw applications and svics hav had an nomous impact on how infomation is pocssd, publishd 30

32 Chapt 1 and consumd by uss, as wll as thy hav maningfully modifid th way in which uss intact ach oth and with th tools. Finally, all indications point to th fact that Wb 2.0 applications and svics a h to stay. It is not a fad, but th nw convntional ways to intact, communicat and collaboat on a scal nv sn bfo. 1.3 Wb 2.0 in oganizations Claly, such social volution has had a vy pofound impact also on businss wold. Th gat succss of nw Wb 2.0 applications and svics has ncouagd oganizations to wi th way thy think about and un thi businsss. Sinc its advnt, th scond gnation of th Wb has nabld nw ways fo companis to connct th intnal ffot of mploys, build lationship with supplis and stakholds, ach thi customs and pomot thi band. Incasingly, oganizations a xploing nw mods to lvag opn and diffusion collaboation as a nw comptitiv appoach. Applications lik blogs, wikis, pdiction makt, mash-ups and social ntwoks hav apidly bn adopting by th ntpiss. Tapscott and Williams [2006] claim that Wb 2.0 has poplld th businss wold in a nw a, on of th Mass Collaboation. Indd, th opnnss, scalability, slfoganization, loos-coodination and adquat, low cost collaboativ tools hav allowd lag goups of uss to achiv outstanding sults in knowldg cation, xchang and shaing, such that thy a bcom a souc of inspiation fo both oganizational sachs and fims [Gloo, 2006; Raymond, 2001; Tapscott and Williams, 2006, von Hippl, 2001; von Kogh and von Hippl, 2006]. Nw businss appoachs a alady dvlopd and stablishd, which impact on th way oganizations manag diffnt oganizational pocsss. In paticula, oganizations a using ths nw collaboativ tchnologis fo fosting innovation, suppoting makting and knowldg managmnt statgis, aiding poblm solving and dcision making pocsss. Mass collaboation is ncouaging customs, mploys, supplis 31

33 Chapt 1 patns and comptitos to sha knowldg and idas. This is adically modifying th taditionally accptd businss modls. Vtically oganizd hiachis and closd businss systms a giving way to flat oganizations and opn platfom. Collaboation is nothing nw, but what has changd sinc th advnt of Wb 2.0 tools has bn its badth and its dpth. In 2006, Andw McAf, a Havad Businss School, suggstd th tm Entpis 2.0 to dscib and indicat thos platfoms that companis can buy o build to mak visibl th pactics and outputs of thi knowldg woks. Wb 2.0 platfoms a poviding ntpiss with nw modls and tools fo sustaining and impoving collaboation and co-cation, accumulation and shaing of knowldg. Ths collaboativ tchnologis a considd th nw, ight tools fo knowldg wok. Wikis, blogs, goup-mssaging softwa and th lik can mak an oganization intant into a constantly changing stuctu built by distibutd, autonomous ps [McAf, 2006]. Not only woks can collct a hug amount of knowldg and slf-idntify th contnts that a most lvant fo thi activity but thy a also abl to st up th stuctus and th collaboativ pocsss that a adquat to thi nds. In this way, vitual collaboatos co-dsign collaboativ platfoms that flct th way wok ally gts don [McAf, 2006]. Oth impotant aspcts of Entpis 2.0 tchnologis a thi adaptability and flxibility to th diffnt wok applications; thy do not impos on uss any pconcivd notions about how to wok, how stuctud and catgoizd th gnatd contnt, but thy lav that ths aspcts of knowldg wok mg spontanously. Dfinitly, th wid adoption of wb-basd tchnologis divs also fom th failu of taditional Knowldg Managmnt tools which chaactiz to b too igid, fomal and stuctud. In fact, in his studis, Davnpot [2005] found that all knowldg woks suvyd a not satisfid and happy to us th platfoms and channls availabl to thm, such as Intant, copoat Wb sit, Infomation potals, - mail and pson-to-pson instant mssaging. Additionally, a scond mo cucial poblm of taditional Knowldg Managmnt tools flt fom woks was that such tchnologis did not a good job of captuing thi knowldg; indd thy do not lt thm to asily acqui, sha and -us oganizational knowldg. On th contay, th 32