Motivational Aspects of Knowledge Maturing

While the motivation of employees has been recognized as a major factor for successful implementation of knowledge management systems, most measures to influence motivation have concentrated on incentives, both in terms of monetary rewards and other extrinsically motivation schemes which are designed as top-down instruments. Research has shown that these can work under certain circumstances, but usually (particularly in genuine knowledge worker environments) are problematic, often short-term in their effects and sometimes even counter-productive. Web 2.0 has shown that under certain circumstances people are highly motivated to contribute and to share knowledge, a phenomenon which has stimulated further investigation into the subject like experiments on knowledge sharing behaviour from a psychological perspective.

Little investigation has taken place for workplace settings where informal learning and the integration of learning and working are dominating elements: which barriers do we have to take into account there? How should supporting tools be designed for a workplace context?

As motivation is a wide and open field, the ethnographic studies have shown that it is more valuable to describe and address motivational barriers, rather than trying to decompose determinants of motivation as such. Those determinants rarely occur in isolation; real-world phenomena are complex mixtures so that the decomposition does not yield much added value. Barriers, however, and their systematizations allow for identification of different fields of intervention.

Within the MATURE project, a motivational model has been developed that identifies three different dimensions

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Publications

2011

Mazarakis, Athanasios, Kunzmann, Christine, Schmidt, Andreas, Braun, Simone
Culture Awareness for Supporting Knowledge Maturing in Organizations
In: Motivation und kulturelle Barrieren bei der Wissensteilung im Enterprise 2.0, Workshop auf der Mensch & Computer 2011, 2011

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Abstract The success and sustainability of informal learning support at the workplace largely depends on motivational, social, and cultural aspects of the involved individuals, teams, and organizations. In this paper, we present our empirical findings from a large-scale interview-based study on those aspects with respect to knowledge development in companies. We draw some conclusions that influence the development of future culturally aware systems for the enterprise and organizations.

Kunzmann, Christine, Schmidt, Andreas
Ethnographically Informed Studies as a Methodology for Motivation Aware Design Processes
In: 2nd International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects in Technology-Enhanced Learning, ECTEL 2011, Palermo, Italy, CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 2011

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Abstract While motivational aspects have been recognized as important factors for IT support for learning, it has been difficult to integrate them into requirements engineering processes. We propose ethnographically informed studies as an effective means that has been successfully applied in two research projects as part of their design processes and discuss the remaining challenges.

Cook, John, Schmidt, Andreas, Kunzmann, Christine, Braun, Simone
The challenge of integrating motivational and affective aspects into the design of networks of practice
In: 2nd International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects in Technology Enhanced Learning (MATEL 11), ECTEL 2011, Palermo, Italy, CEUR Workshop Proceedings, 2011

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Abstract In this position paper, we (i) set out the background, problems and questions involved in moving towards a design methodology for incorporating motivational and affective factors in networks of practice, (ii) define networks of practice, highlighting that motivational and affective factors are intertwined with a range of other complex issues, (iii) examine some of these aforementioned problems using a specific example from the MATURE IP (http://mature-ip.eu/) called people tagging, and use this case (iv) to delineate the challenge of integrating motivational aspects into the design of networks of practice.

Mazarakis, Athanasios, Braun, Simone, Zacharias, Valentin
Feedback in Social Semantic Applications
International Journal of Knowledge Engineering and Data Mining (IJKEDM), vol. , no. , 2011, pp.

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Abstract This article examines the role of feedback mechanisms in social semantic web applications. It introduces different social semantic applications and the function that system feedback can play in these, although only a small portion of possible roles of feedback in such applications is addressed by the state of the art. The authors present an approach with four concrete feedback mechanisms and an experiment on the use of explicit feedback to foster user contribution and motivation. Finally the article details the large number of open research questions in this area.

2010

Ravenscroft, Andrew, Schmidt, Andreas, Cook, John
Designing for Motivation in TEL: Relevance, Meaning and Value in Context
In: 1st International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2010

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Schmidt, Andreas
Motivation, Affective Aspects, and Knowledge Maturing
In: 1st International Workshop on Motivational and Affective Aspects of Technology Enhanced Learning, 2010

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2009

Kunzmann, Christine, Schmidt, Andreas, Braun, Volker, Czech, David, Fletschinger, Benjamin, Kohler, Silke, Lüber, Verena
Integrating Motivational Aspects into the Design of Informal Learning Support in Organizations
In: 9th International Conference on Knowledge Management and Knowledge Technologies, September 2-4, 2009, Graz, Austria, 2009

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Abstract Motivational aspects in knowledge management have so far largely been considered from the perspective of designing and implementing incentives that influence the extrinsic motivation of employees to participate, contribute, share etc. This is increasingly considered problematic so that this contribution takes a more holistic viewpoint by analyzing and systematizing barriers that have an impact on the motivation to engage in knowledge maturing activities. Based on an ethnographic study and targeted semi-structured interviews, a model is presented that decomposes the motivational aspects. Furthermore, it is presented how motivational aspects can be incorporated into the design of learning support systems.