Bus 348 - Knowledge Management

Table of Contents

1 Introduction        2

2 Social media and knowledge management        3

2.1 Social media and knowledge sharing        3

2.2 Social media and building social capital        4

2.3 Social media and supporting innovation        5

2.4 Social media and aiding problem-solving        6

3 Risks and Benefits of Social Media        6

4 Conclusion        7

6 References        8

7 Appendix        10

1 Introduction

In the modern world, the field of communication technology has gone to another height where people can interact freely at any time. Presently, the social media that form the most significant improvement in modern communication technology has come to improve information sharing in an organization setting. According to Thom-Santelli et al. (2012), social media aims to enhance knowledge visibility and understanding in a work setting. In this regard, it is therefore imperative to acknowledge the power of social media and the benefits that accrue to an organization when it chooses to apply. Thus, this essay aims to explore how multinational companies use social media to improve knowledge sharing and communication of its employees in their work setting.

2 Social media and knowledge management

Apparently, it is evident that social media and knowledge management has a direct relationship with employees in the multinational companies. It is crucial to acknowledge that social media play a vital role in knowledge management and interactions in an organization setting. According to Atkinson et al. (2017), social media technology affords to give users knowledge, communication connections, and understanding that was once invisible. When both social media and knowledge-based system are in use, positive change in information sharing within the work setting. In that reason, when employees of Google Company are willing to interact through social media, they create an opportunity where they can build and manage their knowledge through learning from posts of other people and improve their work knowledge and experience. Therefore, the power of social media technology is significant as a result of its high contribution to knowledge management and mutual interaction among employees.

2.1 Social media and knowledge sharing

According to Kingston et al. (2015), knowledge sharing involves the process through which knowledge can be exchanged from one person to the other in an organization.  It is vital to all the level of management in the multinational companies. The staff of the multinational corporation must be willing to share and exchange knowledge to build a reliable work experience, ethics that improve the overall performance. It is imperative to acknowledge employees’ knowledge sharing through social media because it can improve staffs’ mutual interaction and understanding through all the cross-functional departments in the multinational companies.