Type of Document	Master's Thesis
Author	Godara, Jaideep
URN	etd-05162007-173100
Title	The Efficacy of Knowledge Sharing: Centralized Vs. Self-Organizing Online Communities
Degree	Master of Science
Department	Industrial and Systems Engineering
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Kavanaugh, Andrea L. Committee Chair Kleiner, Brian M. Committee Co-Chair Smith-Jackson, Tonya L. Committee Member
Keywords	Weblogs Discussion forums Communities of Practice Online communities Legitimate Peripheral Participation Knowledge Sharing Weak-ties Public Deliberation
Date of Defense	2007-05-04
Availability	restricted
Abstract This study investigates the impact of an online community’s control structure on the knowledge sharing process in that community. Using a framework comprised of legitimate peripheral participation theory and the weak-ties phenomenon, the study focuses on a comparative analysis of self-organizing online communities (e.g., weblog networks) and centralized online communities (e.g., discussion forums communities) with respect to the efficacy of knowledge sharing in these communities. The findings of this study indicate that self-organizing communities of practice have more weak-ties among their members compared to centralized communities. As per weak-ties theory of Granovetter (1973, 1983), these findings suggest that self-organizing communities facilitate greater dissemination of knowledge and flow of information among their members than centralized communities. The abundance of weak-ties in their community structure also makes self-organizing communities better environments for the discovery of new information compared to centralized community environments. This study did not find any evidence of community structure impact on peripheral participation and the interaction activity level among peripheral participants of a given online community. These observations may have stemmed from the limitations of research design, however, it is safe to say as of now that verdict on peripheral participation differences in different community structures is inconclusive at best.
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