Proceedings of the 12th European Conference on Knowledge ...

Marguerite Cronk
2.3 Social capital and knowledge sharing in <strong>the</strong> web 2 environment
Social capital is <strong>the</strong> shared accumulated resources that exist across social networks. Knowledge is
<strong>the</strong> primary resource shared and accumulated in <strong>the</strong> network. Social relations, <strong>of</strong>ten established for
o<strong>the</strong>r purposes, constitute information channels that reduce <strong>the</strong> amount <strong>of</strong> time and investment
required to ga<strong>the</strong>r information. (Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998). As mentioned above <strong>the</strong> amount and
nature <strong>of</strong> what is being shared depends on <strong>the</strong> type <strong>of</strong> social capital. For example, <strong>the</strong>re is mounting
evidence demonstrating that where parties trust each o<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong>y are more willing to engage in
cooperative activity through which fur<strong>the</strong>r trust may be generated (Fukuyama, 1995; Putnam, 1993;
Tyler & Kramer, 1996). Morris et al (2010) suggests that web2 social network users actually use <strong>the</strong>
network to both gain and share knowledge (as information, knowledge, or experience) by asking
questions as <strong>the</strong>ir ‘status. In this study network users site speedier better quality information, as <strong>the</strong>
motivator as it comes from a trusted source (group <strong>of</strong> friends).
Studies <strong>of</strong> knowledge sharing in <strong>the</strong> web 2 era have ventured down some different paths than in <strong>the</strong>
‘pre’ web 2 studies. For example, in relation to social technologies ‘connectivists’ assert that
knowledge is distributed across a network <strong>of</strong> connections, and <strong>the</strong>refore that learning consists <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>
ability to construct and traverse those networks. Some domains <strong>of</strong> knowledge contain vast numbers <strong>of</strong>
weak interrelations that, if properly exploited, can greatly amplify learning by a process <strong>of</strong> inference
(Siemens, 2004; Downes 2006). This sounds very similar to ‘accumulated shared resources’ or social
capital. These authors refer to learning specifically, but knowledge sharing/transfer is a precursor to
learning.
Hence <strong>the</strong> significance <strong>of</strong> web2 in knowledge sharing is not only to provide an excellent sharing
platform but to assist in <strong>the</strong> building <strong>of</strong> social capital which in turn fuels more knowledge sharing. (See
figure 2.)
Social Capital
Web 2 SNS
Knowledge Sharing
Figure 2: The relationship between Social Capital and Knowledge Sharing, facilitated by Web 2 SNS.
2.4 Social capital and intellectual capital
Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998 define "intellectual capital" as <strong>the</strong> “knowledge and knowing capability <strong>of</strong> a
social collectivity, such as an organization, intellectual community, or pr<strong>of</strong>essional practice. They
defend <strong>the</strong>ir definition in terms <strong>of</strong> its clear parallel with <strong>the</strong> concept <strong>of</strong> human capital, which embraces
<strong>the</strong> acquired knowledge, skills, and capabilities that enable persons to act in new ways (Coleman,
1988). They affirm <strong>the</strong> notion that social capital facilitates <strong>the</strong> creation <strong>of</strong> new intellectual capital
(Nahapiet and Ghoshal 1998) through knowledge processes. (See figure 3)
Social Capital
Knowledge Sharing
Intellectual Capital
Figure 3: The relationship between Social Capital and Intellectual Capital, facilitated by Knowledge
Sharing
2.5 Intellectual capital and knowledge sharing
Knowledge sharing appears to be <strong>the</strong> intersection or pivotal point that both social capital and
intellectual capital revolve around.
Following Schumpeter (1934), Moran and Ghoshal (1996) have argued that all new resources,
including knowledge, are created through two generic processes: namely, combination and exchange.
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